THE GUARDIAN: Helen Morgan wins seat the Conservatives have held for almost 200 years in a byelection called after environment secretary Owen Paterson resigned
The Liberal Democrats have won a stunning victory in the North Shropshire byelection, taking what had previously been a safe Conservative seat by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes, and capping a disastrous few weeks for Boris Johnson.
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem candidate, won 17,957 votes, ahead of the Conservatives’ Neil Shastri-Hurst, on 12,032, a majority of 5,925. Labour’s Ben Wood was third, with 3,686 votes. Turnout was 46.3%.
The calamitous collapse in Conservative support – a 34% swing in a seat where they had a near-23,000 majority in 2019 – will prompt significant jitters among many Tory MPs, and is likely to raise questions about Johnson’s future.
It was a swing even greater than the 25% seen last June when the Lib Dems won the Chesham and Amersham byelection.
North Shropshire was seen as a notably greater challenge for the party, given it is a largely rural and strongly pro-Brexit constituency, one which has been Tory for all but two of the past 189 years, from 1904 to 1906. Morgan fought the seat in 2019 and came third, with 10% support. With video » | Peter Walker Political correspondent | Friday, December 17, 2021
At last, some good news! A drubbing for BoJo, the corrupt clown! Get these Brexit-loving, anti-EU Tories out of office! Kick them into the long grass! They belong to a bygone age and they are destroying this once proud nation. They are unpatriotic, over-privileged chancers! – © Mark
Tories lose North Shropshire seat they held for nearly 200 years: The Conservatives have lost the North Shropshire seat they held for nearly 200 years to the Liberal Democrats in a by-election blow to Boris Johnson. »
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Au Royaume-Uni, le parti de Boris Johnson sévèrement battu dans une législative partielle : Le LibDem, parti europhile, l’emporte dans le North Shropshire, une circonscription rurale normalement acquise aux conservateurs. »
'One more strike and Boris is OUT': Christmas nightmare for 'failed' PM as he faces Tory meltdown after by-election 'earthquake' saw 23,000 majority in true-blue, Brexit-backing North Shropshire routed by Lib Dems: Tories turn on Boris Johnson after 'earthquake' by-election defeat in previously rock-solid North Shropshire / MPs say result a 'referendum' on PM and warning he will face a leadership challenge unless things improve / Owen Paterson held seat with a huge 23,000 majority in 2019 and it was strongly Leave in 2016 referendum / But in a stunning turnaround Lib Dem Helen Morgan was elected to heap more pressure on the Prime Minister »
