LONDON: Boris Johnson’s Conservatives lost two parliamentary seats yesterday, a new blow to Britain’s prime minister who then lost a close ally with the surprise resignation of his party’s chairman and faced renewed calls to quit.
In Rwanda for a meeting of Commonwealth nations, Johnson was defiant, pledging to listen to voters’ concerns and do more to tackle a cost-of-living crisis after what he described as “tough” results in the two so-called by-elections.
The losses – one in the Conservatives’ traditional southern heartlands and in a northern English industrial seat won from Labour in the last election – suggest the broad appeal Johnson presented to win the 2019 election may be fracturing.
Fears that Johnson could have become an electoral liability may prompt legislators to move against him again after months of scandal over Covid-19 lockdown parties at a time when millions are struggling with rising food and fuel prices.
Johnson has so far resisted pressure to resign after he was fined for breaking lockdown rules at his Downing Street office.
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