Tories blame Farage
After Lib Dem victory cuts Commons majority to just ONE...
SENIOR Tories blamed Nigel Farage after Boris Johnson’s majority was slashed to just one yesterday following a by-election defeat.
The Liberal Democrats won the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency by 1,425 votes, with a swing of nearly 12 per cent from the Conservatives.
The margin of victory was less than the 3,331 votes that Mr Farage’s Brexit Party amassed. A Remainer electoral pact saw Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru and the Green Party stand aside to boost the chances of a pro-EU MP being elected, and new Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson predicted further alliances in future.
The first major electoral test of Mr Johnson as Tory leader became his first defeat with the announcement of Jane Dodds’s victory in the early hours yesterday.
She beat Conservative candidate Chris Davies, who was the constituency’s MP until he was ousted by local voters in a ‘recall petition’ after he admitted submitting false invoices for expenses.
The Tory loss will add to the PM’s challenges in steering Brexit through Parliament, and may increase the chances of a snap general election.
But the Conservatives were quick to point the finger of blame at Mr Farage yesterday, arguing that he split the pro-Brexit vote to allow the Remainers to win even though the Welsh seat narrowly voted to leave the EU in 2016.
Yesterday the Tory party’s official Twitter feed stated: ‘A vote for the Brexit Party = A vote to delay Brexit. It’s Conservatives who will get Brexit done on October 31st – Deal or No Deal.’
The Brexit Party has reaffirmed that it was preparing to contest every seat in any snap general election – a message which reaffirmed support among many Eurosceptic Tory MPs for a pact.
Steve Baker MP, from the European Research Group, tweeted: ‘It is becoming obvious to all now that the Brexit Party standing against the Conservative Party would produce a massive own goal.’ With the vote coming eight days after Mr Johnson was appointed, it is the quickest byelection defeat for any PM in the post-war period.
In a celebratory appearance alongside her new MP, Miss Swinson said: ‘This by-election victory shows that the people of Brecon and Radnorshire not only have a first class MP in Jane Dodds but they have shown the people of Britain that we can do better than the choice on offer between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.’
She added: ‘I will fight to keep our country in the European Union, and we now have in Parliament one more MP who will fight to make that happen.’
The Lib Dem leader said she had exchanged messages with the Green and Plaid Cymru leaders, telling the BBC: ‘I think there will be more co-operation in future elections.’ Mrs Dodds said: ‘My very first act as your MP when I arrive in Westminster will be to find Mr Boris Johnson wherever he is hiding and tell him loud and clear: “Stop playing with the future of our communities and rule out a No Deal Brexit now”.’
Tory chairman James Cleverly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was ‘disappointing to lose a parliamentary colleague’ but suggested the result was closer than many had predicted. Mr Davies won the seat from the Lib Dems in 2015 and secured a majority of 8,038 in the 2017 general election.
His recall came after he pleaded guilty in March to submitting two false expenses invoices for nine photographs costing £700 to decorate his new office.
But despite 19 per cent of the electorate petitioning for him to be ousted the Tories selected him to fight to reclaim the seat. The loss leaves the PM with the support of 319 MPs, including the DUP, while opposition parties now have 318.
However, following the election result, another Tory MP threatened to wipe out Mr Johnson’s majority altogether by defecting to the Liberal Democrats. Dr Phillip Lee, who supports a second EU referendum, said he will ‘spend the summer’ deciding whether to cross the floor.
Comment –Page 18
‘It’s Conservatives who will get Brexit done’