Move the bus stop at your peril.
It’s local issues that so often decide borough elections, and sometimes Westminster seats.
And didn’t we see that on Thursday night.
Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone cost Labour victory in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.
Not a Labour verdict, but that of the victorious Tory candidate, local councillor Steve Tuckwell.
“It was his damaging and costly Ulez policy that lost them this election,” he said.
If you move the bus stop, some people who now live further away will be up in arms.
Those, who now live closer and benefit from the change, are unlikely to be so vocal.
The same applies with council tax.
Many MPs, local politicians and experts say this tax system needs a revaluation of properties, as they were made in 1991 in England, and are now very out-of-date.
But any party leader who embarked on such a strategy would be taking a massive risk.
People who would see their bills go up would in many cases be furious, while those whose bills went down would be more likely to quietly pocket the savings.
For the Ultra Low Emission Zone, the divisions could be even more stark.
Motorists in outer London who now face having to pay the £12.50 daily charge as their vehicles are non-compliant are in many cases steaming, as they will be hit in the pocket in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
But given that air pollution is not visible, it’s less clear who will benefit from this policy, in particular children who will be less at risk of health harms such as to their lung development.
Mr Khan is also seen by many people locally to have rushed in the extension of Ulez, giving motorists insufficient time to ditch polluting cars and vans.
So, while Ulez may clean up the air, it has proved electorally toxic for Labour.
So all eyes will now be on the Mayor and whether he waters down the policy, under pressure from the party’s high command, to avoid hitting its chances of winning a string of Outer London seats from the Tories at the next General Election, and to the east of the capital in places such as Thurrock and Dartford.
Without them, it’s much harder for Sir Keir Starmer to win a Commons majority.
