Pressure is mounting on UK Prime Minister Johnson after crushing electoral defeats

LONDON / KIGALI, June 24 (Reuters) – Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party lost two parliamentary seats on Friday in a crushing blow to the ruling party, prompting the resignation of its leader and intensifying doubts about the future of Britain’s prime minister.

In Rwanda, Johnson promised a meeting of Commonwealth nations that he would listen to voters’ concerns and do more to address the cost-of-living crisis after describing the two so-called by-elections as “difficult” results. .

Losses in one of the Conservatives’ traditional southern hubs and the North English industrial constituency that won from Labor in the last election – suggest that the broader appeal put forward by Johnson to win the 2019 election could be broken.

Fears that Johnson may have become responsible for an election may prompt lawmakers to move again against him after the scandal surrounding the Govt-19 locking-up parties at a time when millions of people are struggling with rising food and fuel prices.

Johnson has so far resisted pressure to resign after being fined for violating locking rules at his Downing Street office. read more

This month, he escaped a vote of confidence by Conservative lawmakers, although 41% of his parliamentary colleagues voted to oust him, and a panel is investigating whether he deliberately misled parliament.

“As a government I think I need to listen to what people have to say,” Johnson told broadcasters in Kigali after the results. “We have to recognize that we still have a lot to do … until we reach this link we will continue to address people’s concerns.”

Following the losses in Dverton and Horniton in the south-west of England and Wakefield in the north, he resigned in a carefully written letter to the leader of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dow.

“We can’t continue the business as usual,” he said. “Someone has to take responsibility. In this situation, I’m decided it’s not right for me to be in office,” Johnson’s longtime partner Dowd said.

Johnson said he understood his frustration, but said “this government was elected two years ago with a historic mandate” and will continue to work towards that end.

A Conservative party source said Johnson was not worried about further resignations from his top cabinet, and swiped in the media that the locking parties were “misreporting”. read more

Conservative unrest

But the explanations given by Johnson and his team will lessen the frustration in the Conservative Party.

Several Conservative lawmakers tweeted in support of Dowden, saying he was not responsible for the results of reports suggesting a renaissance against Johnson’s leadership.

While Johnson cannot face another vote of confidence for a year under the rules of his party, lawmakers may fear for their own future and try to force a change to bring a second vote.

That may take time. This will lead to changes in the panel representing Conservative lawmakers who do not have government jobs.

Another way to oust Johnson ahead of the next national election, which is expected in 2024, could be a wave of cabinet resignations. It could have been called earlier, but US Bank Citi said in a note that it was “limited”.

The by-elections were triggered by the resignation of Conservative lawmakers – one admitting he had seen pornography in parliament and the other accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy.

The party lost more than 24,000 votes in Deverton and Honidon to the centrist Liberal Democrats, who won a majority of more than 6,000.

“If the Conservative MPs do not wake up, I think in the next election, voters will bundle them up,” said Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats.

In the Wakefield Parliamentary constituency in the north of England, the main opposition Labor Party won. read more

“This decision is a clear verdict on the Conservative Party’s lack of energy and ideas,” Labor leader Khair Stormer said.

Johnson led the Conservatives to an overwhelming majority in the Thirty years of the 2019 national election, winning traditionally labor-intensive constituencies in the north and central UK.

But the loss of Wakefield may indicate that his ability to repeat that tactic has been compromised.

Additional Reporting by Andrew McSkill in Kigali, Muvija M, William Schomberg, Kate Holden in London; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams

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