United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has suffered a stunning defeat in a parliamentary by-election that was a de facto referendum on his government, amid weeks of scandal and soaring COVID-19 infections.
Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan overturned a Conservative majority of almost 23,000 votes from the previous electionIt is the second by-election defeat for the Conservatives this year
Its result will heap pressure on Mr Johnson just two years after he was re-elected with a seemingly unassailable 80-seat majority in parliament.allegations that he and his staff attended Christmas parties last year while the country was in lockdownsuggestions that he improperly accepted donations to fund the lavish refurbishment of his official residence.
In June, the Liberal Democrat Sarah Green won a by-election in Chesham and Amersham, a constituency north-west of London that has been a traditional Conservative stronghold. Conservative lawmakers rebelled earlier this week, with 99 members of Mr Johnson's party voting against his proposal to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter nightclubs and large events. The measure passed only because the opposition Labour Party supported it.
He was forced to apologise last month after trying to change parliamentary rules to avoid censure for Mr Paterson, who lobbied government agencies on behalf of companies he worked for. Mr Paterson eventually resigned, triggering the by-election in North Shropshire.
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