But are his MPs turning against him?
Boris Johnson has said he will “listen” to voters but “keep going” after last night’s historic by-election defeats.
Speaking in Rwanda where he is attending a summit of Commonwealth leaders, he said: “I’ve got to listen to what people are saying, in particular to the difficulties people are facing over cost of living.”
The double by-election loss follow months of criticism of the prime minister over parties in Downing Street during lockdown, soaring inflation and rocketing cost of living crisis.
On Friday morning, backbench MPs appeared to break ranks and support their colleague Oliver Dowden, who resigned saying someone “must take responsibility” for the poor results.
Writing in a letter to the prime minister, Dowden said he shared the feelings of Tory supporters who were “distressed and disappointment by recent events” and the tories “cannot carry on with business as usual”.
Rallying to support him, several Tories posted messages of support on Twitter – arguing he was not to blame for the poor results.
https://twitter.com/AJRichardsonMP/status/1540206420599218177?s=20&t=ww1N9UU2RElACDjmJXReOQ
Overnight the Tories suffered a devastating double election defeat, just weeks after 41% of the prime minister’s own MPs voted no confidence in his leadership.
The crushing result led to the resignation of Conservative party chairman Oliver Dowden, who quit after acknowledging their supporters were “distressed and disappointment by recent events” and the tories “cannot carry on with business as usual”.
In Tiverton and Honiton, the Liberal Democrats swept to victory after overturning an historic 24,000 votes. The almost 30% swing is the largest percentage loss for the Tories at any and all by-elections.
Meanwhile in Wakefield, Labour secured their first by-election win since 2012 with a swing of more than 12%.
Related Links
- Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden resigns after double by-election loss
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