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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Peter Walker Political correspondent

Byelection defeats cast pall over Boris Johnson’s pitch that he is an election winner

Helen Hurford, the Tory candidate in Tiverton and Honiton, reportedly reacted to her humiliating byelection defeat by locking herself in a room and refusing to speak to the media. About 4,000 miles away in Kigali, Boris Johnson could be forgiven for wanting to do exactly the same.

Thursday’s double byelection loss, taking in defeat to Labour in Wakefield and a particularly astonishing capitulation to the Lib Dems in Tiverton and Honiton, is likely to prompt similar feelings of anguish among Conservative MPs.

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