North Shropshire By-Election: Humiliation for Boris Johnson as Tories lose to Lib Dems

To no one’s surprise, the Conservatives have lost the North Shropshire by-election to the Lib Dems. Another blow to Boris’s authority and another reason it will be hard for him to impose a full lockdown without triggering a leadership challenge. The Telegraph has more.

The Liberal Democrats have pulled off an extraordinary victory in North Shropshire by taking a lifelong Tory seat in the by-election for the first time in 200 years.

In a shock result, the Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan secured 17,957 votes, leaving the Conservative Neil Shastri-Hurst with 12,032, and giving the Lib Dems a majority of 5,925 after a massive swing of 34%.

The by-election was called after Owen Paterson resigned following sleaze allegations after he was found to have broken lobbying rules for taking around half a million pounds from two companies and seeking to influence government policy.

The North Shropshire seat has returned a Conservative MP since 1830. It will prove a humiliating defeat for the Tories and will be regarded by many as a referendum on Boris Johnson’s leadership.

Mr Paterson had represented the constituency since 1997 and held it in 2019 with a majority of 22,949 with 62.7% of the vote. Labour came second with 22.1% of the vote and the Lib Dems had just 10% of the vote. When Ms. Morgan, a chartered accountant, ran for the seat in 2019 she came third.

The constituency also voted Leave in the 2016 referendum, at odds with the Lib Dems who became synonymous with the Remain vote.

Worth reading in full.