UK elections

The Biggest Threat to Boris Johnson Isn’t Jeremy Corbyn

As night sets in just after 4 p.m. and only a few Christmas lights illuminate the streets, Ali Milani, the local Labour Party candidate, affixes his headlamp and keeps canvassing.

He and his volunteers had already knocked on 3,000 doors on a recent, rainy weekend as they approached the corner of two quiet Conservative Party strongholds: Church Lane and Church Close. Milani reassured his supporters, a team that ranges from teenagers to pensioners, not to worry if the feedback was stiff. But as the first door cracked open, an elderly woman on the other end lit up and exclaimed: “Anything to oust Boris!”

Optimism and surprise have defined the long-shot parliamentary bid of Ali Milani, a 25-year-old immigrant who came to the United Kingdom from Iran when he was five. If he succeeds, he will do what has never been done in British history: win the parliamentary seat of a serving prime minister. Although the constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip was long considered a Conservative safe seat—safe enough for Johnson never to have to worry about local challengers—that sense of certainty has been slipping away.