The Latest Breaking News from Wakefield

Defeat in the two district contests increases jitters among Conservatives who worry the erratic and divisive prime minister is no longer an electoral asset.

The Prime Minister defied calls to quit after the Tories lost both Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton in the most bruising by-election night since under John Major in 1991

Beleaguered British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered two crushing parliamentary by-election defeats on Friday, including in a southwest English seat previously held by his ruling Conservatives for over a century. The Tories lost the Tiverton and Honiton seat to the centrist Liberal Democrats while the main opposition Labor party regained…

Analysis: Dire results in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton make it more likely PM will face renewed challenge

In today’s newsletter: devastating results for the Conservatives in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton intensify questions over the prime minister’s future

The Liberal Democrats won Tiverton and Honiton, which had previously been held by the Tories with a 24,000 majority, while Labour won Wakefield.

Mr Dowden said in his letter to the PM the by-elections “are the latest in a run of very poor results for our party"

Senior Tory MP says PM’s fall from power ‘is now a question of when, not if’

Tory defeat in Tiverton & Honiton and Wakefield is the first time in more than 30 years a government has lost two by-elections on the same day