- The party president resigns after the defeats, saying change is needed
- Conservatives lose a seat in the heart of the south
- Johnson’s electorate in 2019 fractures when Labor recovers Wakefield
- The Prime Minister is embroiled in the confinement party scandal
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Boris Johnson’s Conservatives lost two parliamentary seats on Friday, an overwhelming blow to the ruling party that led to the resignation of the party’s president and heightened doubts about the future of the British prime minister.
In Rwanda for a Commonwealth of Nations meeting, Johnson was challenged and pledged to listen to voters ’concerns and do more to address a cost-of-living crisis after what he called“ tough ”results in the two so-called by-elections. .
The losses, one in the traditional southern heart of the Conservatives and a seat in northern England won by Labor in the last election, suggest the electoral coalition Johnson rallied in the 2019 national election may be fracturing.
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Johnson’s transformation from vote winner to election responsibility may cause lawmakers to move against him again after months of scandal over COVID-19 blockade parties at a time when millions are struggling with the rise of food and fuel prices.
Johnson has resisted intense pressure to resign after being fined for violating blocking rules at his Downing Street office. Read more
This month he survived a vote of confidence by Conservative lawmakers, even though 41% of his parliamentary colleagues voted to oust him, and he is under investigation by a committee over whether he intentionally deceived Parliament.
“It’s absolutely true that we’ve had some difficult by-elections … I think as a government I have to listen to what people say,” Johnson told Kigali stations after the results.
“We need to recognize that there are more things we need to do … we will continue to address people’s concerns until we overcome this patch.”
After the losses at Tiverton and Honiton in the south-west of England, and Wakefield in the north, Conservative Party President Oliver Dowden resigned in a carefully drafted letter hinting that he believed Johnson should take responsibility for electoral defeats.
“Yesterday’s by-elections are the latest in a series of very poor results for our party. Our supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events, and I share their sentiments,” Dowden said in a resignation letter. and Johnson.
“We can’t go on with business as usual. Someone has to take responsibility and I have concluded that in these circumstances it would not be right for him to continue in office,” added Dowden, a longtime Johnson ally.
Several Conservative lawmakers tweeted their support for Dowden, saying he was not to blame for the results in messages suggesting a resurgent dissent against Johnson’s leadership.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech at the Business Forum during the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on June 23, 2022. Dan Kitwood / Pool via REUTERS
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While according to his party’s rules, Johnson cannot face another motion of confidence for a year, lawmakers who fear for their own future may decide to shorten the grace period to provoke a second ballot.
However, this can take time. It would lead to changes in the committee representing conservative lawmakers who have no government jobs.
A wave of resignations from Johnson’s cabinet prime ministerial team could also be another way for the prime minister to be forced ahead of the next national election, scheduled for 2024. It could be called sooner.
‘GO NOW’
The Conservatives lost a large majority of more than 24,000 votes in Tiverton and Honiton, in a deeply conservative part of the south-west of England, defeated by the center-left Liberal Democrats who secured a majority of more than 6,000.
Liberal Democrats said the magnitude of the victory suggested other Conservative lawmakers could be at risk of losing their seats in the southern heart of the party.
“If Conservative MPs don’t wake up, I think in the next election, voters will send them with their suitcases,” Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said.
LibDem winning candidate Richard Foord said in his victory speech that Johnson should “go and go now.”
At the separate parliamentary seat in Wakefield in the north of England, the main opposition Labor party also defeated the Conservatives. Read more
“Wakefield has shown that the country has lost confidence in the Conservatives. This result is a clear judgment on a Conservative Party that has run out of energy and ideas,” Labor leader Keir Starmer said in a statement.
Johnson led the Conservatives to their largest majority in three decades in the 2019 national election, earning praise from his party for its ability to win in traditionally Labor voting areas in northern and central England.
But Wakefield’s loss could indicate that his ability to win back in those areas in the next national election has been compromised.
The by-elections were triggered by high-profile resignations from Conservative lawmakers – one who admitted to having seen pornography in parliament and another found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager.
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Report by Alistair Smout in London, additional report by Andrew MacAskill in Kigali and Elizabeth Piper in London; Edited by Toby Chopra
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