Special election could add to British prime minister’s woes

After a first week LONDON — in office that saw him booed in Scotland and berated in Belfast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing his first electoral test Thursday a special election

— that could see his Conservative government’s working majority in Parliament cut to 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 p.m., with results expected early today.

In Britain’s 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, 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 U.K., 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 28-nation bloc.

Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative leadership race by vowing to take Britain out of the EU 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 Nigel Farage.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats are hoping to win support from Welch voters opposed to Brexit.

The centrist Liberal Democrats 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 U.K. votes, trouncing both the Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party, whose leadership is divided over Brexit.

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

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

Johnson was criticized by Welsh farmers and booed in the Welch capital, Cardiff, this week during his first tour of the U.K. as prime minister.

He also faced jeers from Scottish independence protesters in Edinburgh and censure from politicians in Scotland and Northern Ireland.