Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a rocky day today after the Conservatives suffered two massive blows in the form of disastrous by-election losses.
The Conservatives lost Wakefield to Labour, with the seat turning red by a 4,925 vote majority. But in Tiverton and Honiton, an astronomical swing saw the Lib Dems come out on top - the Tories losing a majority of more than 24,000 votes after former MP Neil Parish resigned for watching pornography in the commons.
The Lib Dems have never previously held the Devon constituency but the blindsiding blows didn't stop there, as Tory party chair Oliver Dowden announced his shock resignation in the cherry atop Johnson's disastrous morning.
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Speaking in Kigali, Rwanda, where he is attending a Commonwealth heads of government meeting, Johnson made an attempt at damage control, saying he would "keep going" despite Dowden's resignation letter stating the party "cannot carry on with business as usual".
But Mr Johnson said: "It's absolutely true we've had some tough by-election results, they've been, I think, a reflection of a lot of things, but we've got to recognise voters are going through a tough time at the moment. I think, as a Government, I've got to listen to what people are saying, in particular to the difficulties people are facing over the cost of living, which, I think, for most people is the number one issue.
"We're now facing pressures on the cost of living, we're seeing spikes in fuel prices, energy costs, food costs – that's hitting people. We've got to recognise there is more we've got to do and we certainly will, we will keep going, addressing the concerns of people until we get through this patch."
As Johnson and his former party chair seem to be at odds with what should happen next for the Conservatives, the Manchester Evening News tried to speak to Tory MPs in the region to see where they fell on the matter.
What they said
Perhaps unsurprisingly - and what may sum up the position the Conservatives found themselves in on Friday morning - nearly all of Greater Manchester's seven Tory MPs did not respond to requests for a comment, or issue messages of support for the Prime Minister on social media or through their office.
Only one MP spoke to the Manchester Evening News , whilst the office for another, William Wragg, replied to say they "regret to inform" the elected official would not be making a statement on the matter. Every other MP was contacted personally, where possible, and through their constituency office but have not replied or posted on social media about the defeats at the time of writing.
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James Daly, representative for Bury North, was the only person to respond to the Manchester Evening News and said that he was backing the government all the way. He said: "The way I view my position is that between no and the next general election I want to deliver new schools, hospitals, and me thinking about other stuff is me wasting time. I back the government agenda, we've had the best part of £200m extra into Bury North with just this week a new school been announced.
"I support completely the government agenda to invest in my constituency and support the people of Bury North and I will continue to support them. I know Oliver and I think that I can't comment on why he [resigned], I'm respectful enough to not take a view on that action he's taken, he's an honourable man and he feels like it's right."
Daly did not follow the lead of former MP Neil Parish, who said the Conservative candidate for Tiverton and Honiton's Helen Hurford "paid the price" for people's concerns about the party in an election that was "very much a sort of national vote". Instead, he said: ""Having been to Wakefield on many occasions I feel devastated that Labour won on the basis that past representatives do nothing to level up, nothing to improve the facilities and frontline services people need.
"I'm an eternal optimist, when you campaign you set out a vision and try to persuade people on that but the vision that Conservatives were standing on was something that was based on levelling up. We'll see what Labour will do, it'll be interesting to see as there are people whose hopes and aspirations have been let down by Labour representatives."
On the other side
Labour MPs have been much more vocal, with several congratulating Simon Lightwood, the new Labour MP for Wakefield, or taunting Conservatives on social media.
Bury North's MP Christian Wakeford, who defected to Labour from the Conservatives in January in protest against "disgraceful" Boris Johnson, was particularly active on Twitter, where he poked fun at some of his former colleagues, quote tweeting Dowden's resignation with the caption: "What took you so long fella?"
Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader and MP for Ashton under Lyne, said: "Boris Johnson might apply for permanent residency in Rwanda at this rate" whilst Worsley and Eccles South MP Barbara Keeley retweeted a post from John Crace, a Parliamentary sketch writer for the Guardian, which said: "Incredible that Oliver Dowden has reached his shame threshold. No one knew he had one".
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