A former Member of Parliament’s social media video denouncing plans for better active travel infrastructure has been widely criticised for spreading misinformation and inadvertently showcasing why a segregated cycle lane is needed.
Felicity Buchan last week shared a video calling for residents to oppose Westminster Council’s plans to segregate the cycle lane on Bayswater Road. A consultation opened on the council’s proposal to deliver a “safer, permanent, and continuous cycling connection” linking existing Cycleways C3 and C27 within Westminster, as well as providing a direct east–west route for people cycling along the north side of Hyde Park.
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In the video Buchan, a Conservative MP for Kensington before losing her seat in the 2024 general election says that segregating the existing painted lane would “remove a lane of traffic”, leading to “congestion and delays”. She adds that “disabled and elderly residents have raised serious concerns” about crossing a cycle lane to reach a bus stop.
The video attracted the attention of several residents and campaigners alike, objecting to the depiction of cyclists and the dangers of the road, whilst also pointing out the factual errors of Buchan’s video.
The most structured critique came from the Westminster Cycling Campaign on Bluesky. Over the course of their thread detailing Buchan’s inaccuracies, they describe her claims as “bonkers”, “shocking” and “fearmongering”.
It kicks off with the fact that Bayswater Rd “already” has a cycle lane. The video then helpfully shows a taxi veering dangerously into it, because paint isn’t infrastructure! And as is seen here, a painted line doesn’t stop traffic from loading and stopping in it.
— Westminster Cycling Campaign (@westminster-lcc.bsky.social) 3 February 2026 at 07:47
Among the points raised in their criticism, the WCC identify that the footage taken of the painted cycle lane shows cars interfering in the lane, highlighting the need for segregation between cyclists and vehicles. The supposed ‘loss’ of a traffic lane and purportedly does not impact the traffic which remains single-file regardless.
Finally, on the issue of pedestrian safety, the WCC identify that Westminster Council’s proposal also includes zebra crossings, and colour contrast between the pavement and the cycle lane.
Despite losing re-election, Buchan has continued to describe herself as an MP in her Facebook profile. An investment banker before entering Parliament, she has also uploaded multiple videos online criticising active travel infrastructure within her former constituency, which she describes as being poorly planned and not right for the area.
9 thoughts on “Ex-MP’s “bonkers” video denouncing cycle lane proposals criticised by residents and campaigners”
Westminster Cycle Campaign’s bsky thread says “The video repeatedly shows a man walking into a cycle lane and getting run over by someone on a lime bike”.
I would say that is a bit of an understatement. I’ll admit many of the details aren’t entirely clear due to the short clip, close crop and large areas being blurred out, but it appears to me that the man runs into the cycle lane without looking, possibly whilst distracted talking on the phone, and causes the cyclist (who was doing nothing wrong, as far as I can tell) to fall off their bike as a result of the collision.
All it proves is that running out in front of traffic is dangerous, and if anything it just shows how much safer it is for a pedestrian to run out in front of bike than in front of a lorry.
There’s a slightly longer version of that crash here https://metro.co.uk/2024/11/01/e-bike-crashes-boy-crossing-path-get-chaotic-confusing-bus-stop-21909862/ (plus a lot of bad cyclists).
Thanks – so child not man, and they are holding an umbrella up (rather than holding a phone to their ear).
Otherwise I think the point still stands.
What’s the cat got to do with it?
That’s what the MP stands for, not Member of Parliament but My Pet!
Former Tory MP for Kensington and ‘investment banker’ explains her rubbishy video, anti-cyclist views and attachment to lying about her status. That’s pretty much all we need to know about the deadbeat, who is desperately seeking re-election by pandering to all the nutter Tories and Reform ultra-nutter climate change deniers etc.
Yes, she still does; it’s quite interesting looking at her Facebook profile now though, although she still styles herself Felicity Buchan MP, looking at her posts from September 2024 onwards they were all edited on January 24 this year to add at the top “Former MP 2019–2024”. On January 22 this year I wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards asking if it was acceptable for her still to style herself as MP and they responded “Thank you for bringing this matter to the Commissioner’s attention, he is taking the appropriate steps to address this.”
It’s clear she’s got her priorities right – obviously her desire to speak for the people is so fervent that small details like that are of no consequence.
Is she saying that with cycle infra in there’s no room to park her cat?