By-election defeat piles fresh pressure on beleaguered Johnson
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson said last Friday (17) that he took “personal responsibility” for a crushing by-election defeat in North Shropshire, a constituency never previously lost by the Conservative party.
The Tory candidate, Dr Neil ShastriHurst, lost the safe rural seat, where they had a 23,000-strong majority since 2019, by almost 6,000 votes to the Liberal Democrats.
“I take personal responsibility,” Johnson said in a clip for TV news, calling the vote in the central England constituency that handed victory to the Lib Dems – who enjoyed a swing of 34 percentage points – as “very disappointing”.
“In all humility, I’ve got to accept that verdict,” he added, insisting he understood “people’s frustrations” and “what voters are saying in North Shropshire”.
In her victory speech, winning candidate Helen Morgan said, “The people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people.
“They have said loudly and clearly, ‘Boris Johnson, the party is over’.
The electoral drubbing has intensified a mutinous mood among Conservative MPs and came amid rising new Covid-19 infections.
Johnson, 57, has been reeling from a series of scandals and setbacks, including around 100 of his MPs rebelling in parliament last Tuesday (14) against the government’s introduction of vaccine passes for large events.
The prime minister’s authority has also been hit repeatedly in recent weeks by claims of corruption and reports that his staff broke coronavirus restrictions last Christmas.
However, others cautioned that surging Covid infections could buy Johnson time to turn around his fortunes.
“It doesn’t mean the end, and it certainly doesn’t mean leadership challenges,” said Charles Walker, the vicechairman of the party’s 1922 Committee, which collates no-confidence letters and manages any leadership contest.
“The Conservative party is not going to have a leadership challenge as we are heading into potential further restrictions around Covid,” Walker added.
Party chairman Oliver Dowden, also a government minister without portfolio, said North Shropshire’s voters were “fed up and they gave us a kicking” but that “we’ve heard that loud and clear”.
“The prime minister is an electoral asset for the Conservative party,” he insisted to Sky News. “On the big calls, (he) has the vision and the direction to get us through this difficult period.”
However, Britain is also suffering spiralling inflation as a result of big borrowing during lockdowns, high energy prices and bottlenecked supply chains. Tax rises also loom from next April, which could further anger the electorate.
Johnson – who won voters’ overwhelming backing in 2019 on his promise to “Get Brexit Done” – has been dogged by controversies for weeks.
It began with his unsuccessful attempt to change parliament’s disciplinary rules to spare MP Owen Paterson a suspension after he was found to have breached lobbying rules.
Paterson, who had held the North Shropshire seat since 1997, then quit, forcing last Thursday’s (16) vote.
That crisis, though, was soon eclipsed by reports that Downing Street staff broke Covid rules last year by holding several parties around Christmas – just as the public were told to cancel their festive plans.
In a further episode in the saga, the senior civil servant tasked with investigating the party claims recused himself last Friday following reports of gatherings in his own department.
“To ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence the cabinet secretary has recused himself for the remainder of the process,” said a statement from Johnson’s Downing Street office.
In addition, Brexit minister David Frost resigned in a shock move announced late last Saturday (18).
Frost was seen as Johnson’s closest ally on Brexit, heading talks to secure a deal with the EU, and in recent talks to iron out problems on trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.
His departure comes at a crucial time in talks with the European Union, amid suggestions London could back down on its demands for revising the socalled Northern Ireland Protocol.