The ruling Conservative Party in the UK lost the by-elections in the two regions yesterday. Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson has been hit with heavy electoral defeats in the Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield districts.
The Liberal Democrat Party won the by-election in Tiverton and Honiton with 52.9 percent of the votes, while the main opposition Labor Party won the by-election in Wakefield with 47.9 percent of the votes.
Conservative Party; In Tiverton and Honiton, he lost 21 percent of the vote in Tiverton and Honiton and 17.2 percent in Wakefield.
For the first time since 1997, the Tiverton and Honiton MP will not be from the Conservative Party.
In Wakefield, on the other hand, in 2019, the Labor Party has re-elected MPs in the region it lost 87 years later.
With the last by-elections, the number of deputies in the House of Commons increased to 200 by the Labor Party and 14 by the Liberal Democrat Party.
Both by-elections were held due to the resignations of the Conservative Party’s deputies.
HOW ARE THE RESULTS INTERPRETED?
Conservative Party Organization Chair Oliver Dowden resigned after the midterm defeats, saying “Someone needs to take responsibility for these results”.
“The public has lost confidence in the Conservatives,” said Labor Party Chairman Keir Starmer.
Richard Foord, a Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said it was “shocking for British politics” and argued that voters told Prime Minister Boris Johnson “enough is enough”. “Now it’s time for Boris Johnson to go,” Foord said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was under intense pressure to resign due to the parties given in the Prime Minister’s Residence, especially during the Covid restrictions, had previously said that he would not resign even if his party lost the by-elections.
Johnson won the no-confidence vote in his party’s parliamentary group on June 6 by 211 votes to 148.
However, the fact that more than 40 percent of the Conservative Party’s 359 deputies wanted Johnson to step down was interpreted as the British Prime Minister’s difficult days ahead in domestic politics.