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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was double-hit as voters rejected the Conservatives in two special elections dominated by questions about his leadership and ethics.
The party’s chair resigned at the beginning of Friday following the results, saying the party “cannot continue its business as usual.”
The Liberal Democratic Party of China overturned the majority of the Conservatives and won seats in the countryside of southwest England, Tiberton and Honiton. Meanwhile, the major opposition Labor Party has regained Wakefield in northern England from Johnson’s Tory.
The contest, triggered by the resignation of a conservative member who was hit by a sex scandal, provided voters with an opportunity to vote on the prime minister just weeks after 41% of his own MPs voted to expel the prime minister. did.
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“The people of Tiberton and Honiton spoke for Britain,” said Richard Fold, a newly elected Liberal Democratic Party member in the region. “They sent a loud and clear message: it’s time for Boris Johnson to go, and now.”
The defeat in either district would have been a setback for the Prime Minister’s party. Losing both increases jitter among the restless conservatives who are already worried about the already vibrant but unstable and disruptive Johnson.
“Our supporters are disappointed and disappointed with recent events, and I share their feelings,” said party leader Oliver Dowden.
“You can’t keep your business going as usual,” he said. “Someone has to take responsibility. In this situation, I conclude that I’m not right to be in office.”
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“As always, I will remain loyal to the Conservatives,” he said without providing Johnson’s support.
When the results were announced, the Prime Minister was 4,000 miles away at the Federal Summit in Rwanda.
He told reporters Thursday that he would not resign if the Conservatives lost both elections, and replied to the proposal, “Are you crazy?”
“Political parties generally do not win by-elections, especially in the medium term,” he said. “It’s just a reality.”
Election tests take place when Britain is facing the worst Crisis of living expenses In one generation, the Russian war in Ukraine squeezed the supply of energy and food staples as consumer demand surged while the coronavirus pandemic receded.
Johnson retains the traditional Conservative voters (wealthy, elderly and concentrated in southern England) in the 2019 general election, and many residents have been overlooked by the government for decades. I won the majority by acquiring new voters in the northern town after the poor Industrial Revolution that I felt.
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Thursday’s election was a test on both sides. Rural Tiberton and Honiton have voted for the Conservatives for generations, but Wakefield is the northern district where the Tories won from the Labor in 2019.
The Labor Party’s widely-anticipated victory at Wakefield is that former Conservative lawmakers have resigned after being convicted of sexual assault, boosting the party’s absence nationwide since 2010. ing.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said the party had shown that it had “returned to the workers, won the previously lost seats and was ready for the government.”
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Pollsters said the competition between Tiberton and Honiton was fierce, but the Liberal Democratic Party overturned the 24,000-vote Conservative majority and won more than 6,000 votes. The election was called when a conservative member of the district resigned after being caught watching pornography in the House of Commons.
Even if defeated, Johnson still has a majority in Congress. But his already precarious authority among his own parliamentarians is even weaker.
Ethical claims struck the prime minister for months, culminating in a scandal over political parties held in a government building during the blockade of the British coronavirus.
Johnson was one of 83 police fines for attending the party and was the first prime minister to be found to have violated the law during his tenure. A civil servant’s report on the “partisan” scandal said Johnson must be held responsible for the “leadership and judgment failure” that created the government a culture of rule-breaking.
He survived a vote of no confidence by his own party this month, but remained weakened after 41% of Conservative lawmakers voted to dismiss him.
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Under party rules, Johnson cannot face such a vote for a year, but Friday’s defeat has increased pressure to change it, increasing the likelihood of another rebellion in the coming months.
Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale, a longtime critic of Johnson, has repeatedly called for the resignation of the prime minister.
“The soul of our party is at stake,” he said.