Johnson ’accepts verdict’ after shock by-election defeat

Boris Johnson said on Friday he took personal responsibility for the loss of a Conservative stronghold in an election defeat that showed public dismay over a litany of scandals and stepped up pressure on the British prime minister from mutinous lawmakers.

The defeat was described as “a kicking” for his Conservative Party, substantiating fears among some that its reputation and electoral prospects are now suffering under Johnson.

The centrist Liberal Democrat candidate, Helen Morgan, won the North Shropshire seat by nearly 6,000 votes, overturning a 23,000-vote Conservative majority from 2019.

“Tonight, the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people. They have said loudly and clearly, ‘Boris Johnson, the party is over’,” Morgan said in her victory speech.

Johnson, responding to the loss of a parliamentary seat his party had dominated for nearly 200 years, said he understood the frustration felt by voters over what he described as “a constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians”.

He did not refer directly to the criticism he faces on several fronts, including over reports his staff held parties last Christmas when the country was in a COVID-19 lockdown, but said people were fed up with hearing about “stuff that isn’t about ... the things that we can do to make life better”.

“Clearly the vote in North Shropshire is a very disappointing result and I totally understand people’s frustrations. I hear what the voters are saying in North Shropshire and in all humility I have got to accept that verdict,” he told reporters.
-LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters)