The seat in Wakefield was held by Labor for 87 years, but the party lost the district to the Conservatives in 2019. Now Labor has reclaimed the seat. Tiverton-Honeyton is known to be conservative, with the Conservative Party winning 24,000 votes in 2019.
The midterm elections were seen as an important test for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party. The prime minister has come under fire in recent months over the ‘party gate’ issue, in which it was revealed that government officials in Downing Street, among others, including the prime minister himself, had not taken seriously the lockdowns imposed by the government announced to combat epidemic. Johnson survived a confidence vote within his party earlier this month.
After the midterm results came out, Johnson vowed not to leave.
British Conservative Party chief resigns after losing seats
“Our supporters are saddened and disappointed by recent events, and I share those sentiments,” President Oliver Dowden wrote in his resignation letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which he posted on Twitter. We can’t go on like we already did. Someone has to take responsibility and I have concluded that under the circumstances, it would not be appropriate for me to continue in this position.”
Johnson wants to do more for citizens after losing two seats
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to do more for the citizens of England after losing two seats in a by-election. “We need to acknowledge that we need to do more and we will, and we will remain committed to addressing people’s concerns.”
“As a government, we need to listen to what people are saying, especially issues around the cost of living, which I think is the biggest problem for a lot of people,” Johnson said. The Prime Minister is currently in Rwanda for the Commonwealth meeting, but has already discussed the loss of seats with Finance Minister Rishi Sunak.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the seat loss was due to an excessive focus on marginal matters. “I think we’ve been very busy with the party gate and home affairs, but we need to focus on people’s priorities,” Raab told the BBC.