Tiverton and Honiton & Wakefield aftershocks: Dowden goes (updated)

There will be news breaking throughout the day as the political establishment cogitates on the results of by-elections and fallout begins.

The first Conservative to fall on his sword is Oliver Dowden, until this morning chairman of the Conservative Party. He told Boris Johnson earlier this morning:

“Yesterday’s parliament by-elections are the latest in a run of very poor results for our party. Our voters are distressed and disappointed by recent events and I share their feelings. 

“We cannot continue with business as usual. Somebody must take responsibility and I have concluded that in these circumstances it would not be right for me to stay in office.”

Is Dowden a sacrifice to distract attention from the failures of Boris Johnson or are Conservatives finally saying enough is enough and walking away from the chaos at the head of the party and government?

Boris Johnson’s formulaic response seems to ignore that main point of Dowden’s letter, that “our supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events”.

* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in Op-eds.
Advert

2 Comments

  • “Somebody must take responsibility”. Those words feel kind of loaded, somehow! But we all know they won’t trouble the UK PM’s conscience.

  • Ashley Pragnell 24th Jun '22 - 1:01pm

    I think another by election is highly likely in Somerton and Frome. Warburton may be forced out. My Aunts niece Sarah Dyke, is already selected for the Lib Dems to fight the seat! This seat was Lib Dem for 18 years. I could see this one going to the Lib Dems. Sarah Dyke is a high value candidate with plenty council experience. She is also of farming stock. Her family have been farming in Somerset and North Dorset for 250 years. The ideal candidate for one of the largest rural constituencies in England.

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert



Recent Comments

  • Tom Harney
    Completely agree with the approach of everyone. We can also consider the money being taken abroad, including Jersey, the Isle of Man, other British dependencies...
  • Andrew Toye
    In the interests of justice, we should await the outcome of the Covid enquiry and note its recommendations before calling for further sanctions on A B Johnson -...
  • Tom Harney
    There is something which I think should be followed up. What steps were taken in Downing Street to ensure the safety of employees? The Health and Safety at Wor...
  • Alex Macfie
    @Peter Martin: We may have disagreed with Margaret Thatcher politically, but her political honesty and integrity were never in doubt. John Major was similar. @...
  • Peter Davies
    In 2010 we conceeded our support base in the university based seats to the Greens. They have yet to take any new ones as a result and will probably loose their ...