Two bitter defeats. That’s what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservatives suffered in Friday’s by-election, including in a constituency in south-west England that has been in Tory hands for more than a century.
The centrist Liberal Democrats unseated the Conservative majority to win Tiverton and Honiton, a constituency in south-west England that has been Conservative since its inception in 1997, by more than 6,000 votes.
British Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden announced his resignation from Prime Minister Boris Johnson after a series of “very bad election results” including Tory defeats in two parliamentary by-elections on Thursday.
These defeats “are the latest in a series of very poor results for our party,” Dowden wrote in a letter to the prime minister, adding that “we cannot continue business as usual” and “someone must take responsibility.” .
The main opposition Labor Party won the Wakefield constituency in northern England, a traditionally Labor stronghold seized by the Conservatives in their December 2019 triumph, by almost 5,000 votes. The votes took place on Thursday after two former MPs resigned. conservatives who have fallen out of favor in recent months.
The Wakefield poll was prompted by the resignation of Imran Khan, sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexual assault of a teenager. In Tiverton and Honiton, MP Neil Parish, 65, tendered his resignation after admitting to viewing pornography on his phone in Parliament.
“The country has lost confidence in the Tories”
Two weeks after surviving a motion of no confidence in the wake of “partygate” – the issue of parties watered down in Downing Street during confinements – these results risk further accentuating the climate of mistrust within the majority.
However, Boris Johnson had ruled out on Thursday, when he was in Rwanda for a Commonwealth summit, resigning in the event of defeat.
In speeches praising their victories, the two newly elected MPs said Britain had lost faith in Boris Johnson and urged him to resign.
Opposition leader Keir Starmer, who is considering replacing Johnson as prime minister after the next general election scheduled for 2024, said Wakefield “could be the birthplace of the next Labor government”.
“Wakefield has shown that the country has lost faith in conservatives,” he said in a statement. “This result is a clear verdict on a Conservative party running out of energy and ideas.”
Inflation and mass strike of railway workers
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said his party had made “political history with this stunning victory” and that it was a “wake-up call to all Conservative MPs who support Boris Johnson”.
“The people of Tiverton and Honiton have spoken for the country,” he added. “The public is fed up with Boris Johnson’s lies and law-breaking and it is time for Conservative MPs to finally do the right thing and fire him.”
Boris Johnson has been fighting for his survival for months after a series of controversies, including ‘Partygate’, which undermined his legitimacy as party leader.
Even before controversy erupted last December, the 58-year-old architect of Brexit lost two once-safe seats in a by-election last year. He then scored dismal in local elections in May.
Weeks later, dozens of Conservative MPs provoked a vote of no confidence in Johnson, with more than 40% of them turning their backs on their embattled leader.
The context is being unfavorable for his government, with inflation at its highest level in 40 years – exceeding 9% – at the origin of a massive strike of railway workers, and the recent failure of a controversial attempt to deport immigrants to Rwanda .
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