Boris Johnson’s leadership was plunged into fresh crisis on Friday following two by-election defeats and the resignation of the Conservative party chair, in the UK prime minister’s first electoral test since narrowly surviving a confidence vote.
In Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, Liberal Democrat Richard Foord overturned a Conservative majority of 24,239 votes, winning by 6,144 votes. The seat had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1997.
In West Yorkshire, Labour regained Wakefield after Simon Lightwood beat his Conservative rival Nadeem Ahmed by 4,925 votes, marking a 12.7 percentage swing from Conservative to Labour.