Boris Johnson’s authority has suffered a double blow as the Tories suffered humiliating defeats in two parliamentary by-elections.
Two disgraced MPs in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and Tiverton and Honiton, Devon had resigned, triggering two by-elections. Wakefield’s Imran Ahmad Khan quit as an MP after being convicted of sexual assault, a crime for which he received an 18-month jail term.
Meanwhile Neil Parish quit his seat after being caught watching pornography in the House of Commons. He initially claimed to have been looking for a website about tractors.
Wakefield was won by the Tories in 2019 with a majority of 3,358 after being a Labour seat since the 1930s – albeit one that had become fairly marginal – so Labour's Simon Lightwood’s 4,925 vote victory is not a seismic shock. Read more:Oliver Dowden resigns as Conservative party chair after two by-election defeats But Tiverton and Honiton had been won with a majority of more than 24,000 – Mr Parish had more than 60% of the vote – so the victory for the Liberal Democrats’ Richard Foord does represent a political earthquake.