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LONDON: UK prime minister Boris Johnson is facing a major test of his leadership after the Conservatives lost a by-election on Friday in an ultra-safe seat that they had held for two centuries.
In one of the greatest swings in modern times, the Liberal Democrats overturned a majority of nearly 23,000 in the North Shropshire byelection and seized the true-blue stronghold by a margin of 5,925 votes.
Johnson said the result was “very disappointing” and he “heard what the voters said”, blaming the political earthquake on a “constant litany of stuff about politicians” in the media rather than the booster jab rollout.
The byelection in the agricultural constituency of North Shropshire was triggered after Owen Paterson, the MP since 1997, resigned in November after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded he breached lobbying rules and recommended his suspension. Paterson denies the allegations.
A string of stories about Christmas parties in Downing Street and the Conservative headquarters in breach of lockdown rules in 2020 ensued whilst a controversy over donations used to fund the PM’s flat refurbishment resurfaced.
A rebellion by 100 Conservative MPs against vaccine passports on Tuesday demonstrating discontentment on the Tory backbenches at Johnson’s leadership encouraged more people to vote Liberal Democrats, said Conservative Shropshire councillor and mayor of Market Drayton Roy Aldcroft. The people of North Shropshire were unhappy with “what was going on in London” he said, and unhappy at the delivery of Brexit, he added. North Shropshire voted “Leave”.
“There is the Irish problem, the French fishing problem, and we have got HGVs hanging at ports because of all the paperwork required,” he added.
The people of North Shropshire are also incensed at how Paterson was treated. “He was a long-standing energetic MP who was doing a good job and they feel aggrieved about the way he was forced into resignation. Had he stood he would have won,” he said.
The Conservative candidate, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, a barrister and surgeon of Indian heritage, was parachuted in from Birmingham without local knowledge of the area, said Mark Whittle, deputy mayor of Market Drayton. “More than half the people in the town could not pronounce his name. He was the totally wrong person for Shropshire.”
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, has announced he will accept letters demanding a vote of no confidence in Johnson “by email”. Fifteen per cent of Tory MPs could trigger a vote. Sir Roger Gale MP said: “One more strike and he’s out.”
In one of the greatest swings in modern times, the Liberal Democrats overturned a majority of nearly 23,000 in the North Shropshire byelection and seized the true-blue stronghold by a margin of 5,925 votes.
Johnson said the result was “very disappointing” and he “heard what the voters said”, blaming the political earthquake on a “constant litany of stuff about politicians” in the media rather than the booster jab rollout.
The byelection in the agricultural constituency of North Shropshire was triggered after Owen Paterson, the MP since 1997, resigned in November after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded he breached lobbying rules and recommended his suspension. Paterson denies the allegations.
A string of stories about Christmas parties in Downing Street and the Conservative headquarters in breach of lockdown rules in 2020 ensued whilst a controversy over donations used to fund the PM’s flat refurbishment resurfaced.
A rebellion by 100 Conservative MPs against vaccine passports on Tuesday demonstrating discontentment on the Tory backbenches at Johnson’s leadership encouraged more people to vote Liberal Democrats, said Conservative Shropshire councillor and mayor of Market Drayton Roy Aldcroft. The people of North Shropshire were unhappy with “what was going on in London” he said, and unhappy at the delivery of Brexit, he added. North Shropshire voted “Leave”.
“There is the Irish problem, the French fishing problem, and we have got HGVs hanging at ports because of all the paperwork required,” he added.
The people of North Shropshire are also incensed at how Paterson was treated. “He was a long-standing energetic MP who was doing a good job and they feel aggrieved about the way he was forced into resignation. Had he stood he would have won,” he said.
The Conservative candidate, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, a barrister and surgeon of Indian heritage, was parachuted in from Birmingham without local knowledge of the area, said Mark Whittle, deputy mayor of Market Drayton. “More than half the people in the town could not pronounce his name. He was the totally wrong person for Shropshire.”
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, has announced he will accept letters demanding a vote of no confidence in Johnson “by email”. Fifteen per cent of Tory MPs could trigger a vote. Sir Roger Gale MP said: “One more strike and he’s out.”
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