Johnson’s govt faces test:

After a first week in office that saw him booed in Scotland and berated in Belfast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing his first electoral test on Thursday – a special election that could see the Conservative government’s working majority in Parliament cut to just one vote.

Voters are electing a lawmaker in a by-election for the seat of Brecon and Radnorshire in Wales after Conservative incumbent Chris Davies was ousted. He was dumped by a petition of local electors after being convicted of a 700 pound ($847) expenses fraud.

Davies is running to regain the seat but faces a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats’ Jane Dodds in a vote overshadowed by Brexit. Polls close at 10 pm (2100 GMT), with results expected early Friday.

In Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum the Brecon constituency – a hilly, largely rural area about 175 miles (280 kilometers) west of London – voted by 52%-48% to leave the EU, an outcome that exactly matched the national result.

As in the rest of the UK, the area’s voters remain deeply divided over the decision – and over the fact that, three years later, Britain is still a member of the bloc.

Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative leadership race by vowing to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct 31, with or without a divorce deal.

The Conservatives hope Johnson’s commitment to complete Brexit “come what may” will neutralize a challenge from the new Brexit Party led by longtime euroskeptic figurehead Nigel Farage. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats are hoping to win support from voters opposed to Brexit.

The centrist Lib Dems hold just 12 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but have seen their support surge because of their call for Britain to remain in the EU. In European Parliament elections in May, the party took 20% of UK votes, trouncing both the Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party, whose stance on Brexit is complicated.

Johnson, who visited the area Tuesday, said “a vote for any party other than Conservatives pushes the Liberal Democrats one step closer to cancelling the referendum result.”

While many farmers back Brexit out of frustration with the EU’s rules-heavy Common Agricultural Policy, sheep-raisers in Brecon worry that, without an EU divorce deal, steep tariffs on lamb exports will devastate their business. (AP)

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