London: Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s already slim parliamentary majority has been cut down further to just one with the loss of an MP to the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrat party in a by-election in Wales.
In one of his first major election clashes since taking over from Theresa May last month, Johnson’s Conservative Party candidate lost the seat for the party in the Welsh constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire.
Liberal Democrat MP Jane Dodds overturned an 8,038 majority to beat incumbent Tory MP Chris Davies by 1,425 votes in results announced overnight on Thursday. It was the first electoral test for Johnson just eight days after becoming the prime minister.
It is the quickest by-election defeat for any new prime minister since World War II, the BBC reported. “My very first act as your new MP when I get to Westminster will be to find Mr Boris Johnson, wherever he’s hiding, and tell him to stop playing with the future of our community and rule out a no-deal Brexit,” said Dodds.
The by-election was a result of Davies being forced to stand again following a petition for him to be unseated after a conviction for a false expenses claim, which he had admitted to and fined for.
He was re-selected by the Tories to contest and win back the seat, showing confidence in him despite the mistake.
However, the loss leaves the Conservatives in an even more precarious position, having to already rely on the 10 Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs for a working majority in the House of Commons. May suffered repeatedly as a result of the slim majority and now her successor has the support of 320 MPs, including the DUP, while the Opposition parties have 319. (PTI)
