What next for Boris Johnson after double by-election blow?

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. He took the seat with a majority of 6,144.

Since the Tory defeat, Oliver Dowden has resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party. The MP said in a letter to the Prime Minister that 'we cannot carry on with business as usual' and 'someone must take responsibility.'

The double by-election defeat came less than three weeks after 41% of Boris Johnson's own MPs voted to get rid of him as Tory leader and, ultimately, Prime Minister in the wake of concerns over the partygate row and economic policies.

Although he survived the confidence vote – 211 Tory MPs backed him, with 148 saying they had lost faith – his leadership was damaged. For many Tory MPs,