The Conservatives saw a majority of 24,000, or 40.6%, in the Devon seat of Tiverton and Honiton evaporate – a record reverse for the party – as the Liberal Democrats triumphed.

In Wakefield, the Red Wall constituency in West Yorkshire snatched by the Conservatives in 2019, it was Labour that took victory.

Politics Hub: Reaction to Boris Johnson’s humiliating double by-election blow

It was the second electoral mauling for the PM this year after the Tories lost nearly 500 council seats at the start of last month.

Mr. Johnson has been under pressure over the partygate scandal as well as the cost of living crisis squeezing British household budgets.

That pressure intensified when a no-confidence vote saw 148 Conservative MPs oppose him.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Wakefield has shown the country has lost confidence in the Tories.

“This result is a clear judgement on a Conservative Party that has run out of energy and ideas.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The Liberal Democrats have made political history with this stunning win.

“This should be a wake-up call for all those Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson. They cannot afford to ignore this result.

“The public is sick of Boris Johnson’s lies and law-breaking and it’s time for Conservative MPs to finally do the right thing and sack him.”

Mr. Johnson, who is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Rwanda, said ahead of the by-elections that he would be “watching the results with interest” while adding that “by-elections in mid-term are never necessarily easy for any government”.

He suggested it would be “crazy” for him to quit if she lost the two seats.

The by-elections, both in leave-voting constituencies, took place on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit referendum.

They were each triggered by the resignations of Conservative MPs: in Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish quit after he admitted to watching pornography on his mobile phone in the Commons chamber; in Wakefield, Imran Ahmad Khan stepped down after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

It became apparent soon after polls closed that it would be a bad night for the Tories.

Luke Hall, the party’s deputy chair, told Sky News it had been a “challenging campaign” and pointed to the impact of divisions laid bare by the confidence vote.

“I certainly would accept that disunity in political parties means parties do not win elections,” he said.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/double-blow-for-boris-johnson-as-tories-plunge-to-two-by-election-defeats-12639472

The post Double blow for Boris Johnson as Tories plunge to two by-election defeats first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

–Boris Johnson could soon be removed as prime minister under a plan being pushed by opposition parties.

–Johnson’s opponents fear that he will find a way to force Britain out of the European Union without a deal next month.

–The Scottish National Party now believes the only way to prevent this is to make the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a caretaker prime minister.

–Under the plan, Corbyn would become prime minister for a few weeks to delay Brexit and call a general election.

–Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson could soon be forced out as prime minister to make way for the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Here’s why.

Johnson is the leader of a minority government, following the defection of one former Conservative MP to the Liberal Democrats and Johnson’s decision to expel 21 members of his own party.

Johnson’s advisers originally believed this would only be temporary and that opposition parties would swiftly vote for a general election, which some polls have suggested he would win.

However, the opposition has other ideas, blocking a general election until Brexit has been delayed beyond its October 31 deadline.

Johnson is running out of road

This presents a problem for the prime minister, who insists he will not delay Brexit, despite members of Parliament passing a law instructing him to do so.

This means Johnson may ultimately have little choice but to resign. However, Johnson’s allies are saying he would take a different course and find some way to circumvent the Brexit-delay law.

John Major, a former Conservative prime minister, warned on Thursday that this could be exactly what Johnson is planning.

As a result, the UK’s opposition parties are growing nervous and believe they may have to act first to prevent Johnson from finding some method of forcing Britain out of the European Union next month.

The caretaker prime minister ‘has to be Corbyn’

“It is increasingly clear that we will have to install a new prime minister via a vote of no confidence so that we can request a delay to Brexit and hold an election,” the source said.

“The convention is absolutely clear that it is the leader of the opposition — in this case, Jeremy Corbyn — who should become prime minister in those circumstances.

“Trying to find a compromise candidate, a national unity candidate, is too complicated, especially in the time we have. Whether people like it or not, the temporary prime minister has to be Corbyn.”

Johnson’s opponents see Corbyn as a lesser risk

Winning a vote in the UK Parliament to make Corbyn prime minister, however, looks tricky.

The post Boris Johnson could soon be forced to stand down as prime minister to make way for Jeremy Corbyn first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.