Britain: Two local elections put Boris Johnson to the test again

Weakened by the scandals, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently facing two difficult complementary electoral contestswho will test its potential to bring victory to his party.

Two weeks after he survived, not gloriously, motion of censure for partygatethe prospect of losing two seats in the House of Commons for the Tories in two politically significant constituencies threatens to negative atmosphere against him.

In Wakefield North England at stake is a Labor Party stronghold that was “conquered” in December 2019 during the sweeping victory of Boris Johnson and the Conservatives.

Hoping to recover this piece “Red wall” collapsed in previous elections, Labor leader Kir Starmer said Wakefield could become the birthplace of the next government of Labor.

Polls give comfortable lead – 20 percentage points – to the Labor Party candidate Simon Lightwood, worker in the British National Health System, the NHS.

The by-elections were triggered by the resignation of MP Imran Khan, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old teenager.

The constituency was in the hands of the Labor Party continuously from 1932 until 2019.

…tractor!

Tiverton and Honiton, a constituency in the south-west of England, has been in the hands of the Tories since its inception in 1997. Voters are asked to vote for Neil replacement Paris. The 65-year-old MP submitted his resignation after admitting that he was watching pornographic material on his cell phone telephone in the House of Commons.

A former farmer, he then explained that fell on the pornographic website looking for a tractor and returned to it “In a moment of madness”.

The Liberal Democrats hope to prevail in the constituency, as they did last December in North Shropser, a Conservative stronghold in northern England, lost after a lobbying scandal.

In an indication of the negative atmosphere that prevails in Tiverton and Honiton for the Tories, the candidate Helen Harford twice refused to comment on Boris Johnson’s honesty in an interview with The Guardian. The Prime Minister “believes that he is honest”, limited to state.

THE Boris Johnson, “Victory machine”, prevailed triumphantly in his elections December 2019 investing in its commitment to implementing Brexit. His image collapsed under the weight of a series of scandals that have tarnished his tenure.

Theoretically, he has saved his head, since the rules in force in the Conservative Party do not allow the submission of a new motion of censure before the lapse of one year.

Partygate, inflation, immigrants… and most recently Carriegate

Wanting to project the image of an active leader on the international stage, Boris Johnson canceled last week on its appearance in the North of England to make another appearance alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

In the interior front, the conjuncture it is not favorable for the Johnson government, which is facing galloping inflationwhich is at its highest point in the last 40 years, over 9%, which causes social discontent, as well as the failed attempt to deport immigrants to Rwanda.

And all this after the scandal of the parties on Downing Street (partygate), to which Carriegate was added, with the recent revelations that Boris Johnson, when he was Foreign Minister, tried to appoint his then mistress, and now his wife, to positions of responsibility , Carrie Simonts.

“I do not think people are watching necessarily the local candidate“, Said a resident of Wakefield recently. “I think they are really looking at what he has done the government as a whole and take them into account “.

Source: News Beast

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