BORIS Johnson has vowed to “get on with the job” as he faced the press this afternoon following a battering at the polls.
The Tories lost Wakefield and Tiverton in double by-election defeats overnight, before Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden dramatically quit as party chairman.
It comes after Oliver Dowden resigned from the Cabinet this morning[/caption] 
But the Prime Minister was bullish today as he gave a press conference from Kigali, Rwanda.
“If governments crumpled because of by-election results, in the whole post-war period we wouldn’t have had many post-war governments,” he said.
“We need to listen to the messages, we need to learn, but in the end we’ve got to get on and deliver for the British people, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Mr Johnson, who looked knackered, failed to answer a question on whether he’d mulled his resignation today, but told another reporter: “No doubt people will continue to beat me up and say this or that to attack me.
READ MORE ON POLITICS
“That’s fine. That’s quite right.
“That’s the job of politicians.
“I have to take that, but I also have to get on with the job of delivering for the people of this country.”
However, Mr Johnson did admit the results are damaging.
Most read in The Sun
“I’m not going to pretend these are brilliant results,” he said.
Labour snatched back Wakefield in the Red Wall, while the Lib Dems overturned a huge 24,000 Tory majority in Tiverton and Honiton.
Voters gave the PM a bloody nose as he parades the world stage thousands of miles away at the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda.
The humbled PM today accepted the “tough by-election results” but dismissed calls for him to quit and said he will “keep going”.
Speaking this morning, he said: “What we need to do now is reflect on where voters are, and what they are basically feeling is that we came through Covid well and we took a lot of the right decisions there.
“But we are now facing pressures on the costs of living… We have to recognise that there is more that we have got to do and we certainly will.”
People will continue to beat me up… I have to take that, but I also have to get on with the job
Boris Johnson
He had already been braced for a rough night, yet the trip now risks being overshadowed by fresh premiership chaos and reshuffle speculation following Mr Dowden‘s resignation.
The top Tory announced he was quitting at 5.35am shortly before he was due to do the morning telly round, lashing out at “a run of very poor results for our party”.
In a stinging letter he said: “Our supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events, and I share their feelings.
“We cannot carry on with business as usual.”
Mr Dowden, who was previously Culture Secretary, had publicly been one of the PM’s staunchest defenders during the Partygate saga.
But today he said his loyalty lay with the Conservative Party and did not directly pledge his support for Boris.
BY-ELECTION BLOWS
Defiant Mr Johnson thanked Mr Dowden but said the government was elected on an “historic mandate” and he was going nowhere.
He 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.
“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.”
The shock upset in Tiverton in Devon is another Lib Dem victory in true-blue southern heartlands ultra safe for the Conservatives since the 1920s.
New MP Richard Foord bagged a swing of almost 30 per cent to wipe out the massive Tory majority and beat their candidate by more than 6,000 votes.
Boris Johnson has suffered a double by-election defeat while thousands of miles away in Rwanda[/caption]
In Wakefield Labour’s Simon Lightwood thumped his Tory foe by 13,166 votes to 8,241.
Pollsters say the 12.6 per cent swing to Labour from the Tories could lead to a hung Parliament if replicated at a General Election.
The West Yorkshire constituency has been a historic Labour stronghold since the 1930s but flipped blue in Mr Johnson’s 2019 rout of northern towns.
Sir Keir Starmer was desperate to show he can start to recapture the Red Wall after flopping badly in last month’s local elections.
PM: I’M STAYING
The results came as a one-two punch within five minutes for the PM, who will today put a brave face on for top meetings in Kigali, including with Prince Charles.
Back home his by-elections disasters risk emboldening backstabbing Tory rebels to plot another shot at their leader.
Why Keir Starmer's by-election win will leave a sour taste
SMUG Sir Keir Starmer's by-election bubble popped yesterday as experts warned he is just another Ed Miliband and voters called him a lemon.
Election gurus said the 12 per cent swing to Labour in Wakefield still “does not suggest any great enthusiasm” for the party.
Polling doyen Sir John Curtice stressed the victory was caused by the steep Tory slump rather than voters flocking to Sir Keir.
Wiping the smile off his face, the top expert said: “That eight point increase in the Labour vote in Wakefield… I can find you 10 elections in the 2010 to 2015 parliament where Ed Miliband managed an eight point increase or more in Labour’s vote, but he didn’t go on to win 2015.”
Sir Keir’s victory lap of the northern town was also scuppered as one disgruntled local ambushed him with a lemon.
Greengrocer Paul Stoner asked the Labour chief if he wanted an apple, before instead handing him the sour fruit.
He told the Telegraph: “If you call someone a lemon you think they are a bit of an idiot, a bit sour.
“He didn’t even realise it wasn’t an apple. He just looked confused and said ‘thank you’.”
Sir Keir could be down to his last few days as Labour chief as Durham cops look to wrap up their Currygate probe.
The Sun understands police the Opposition chief and Angela Rayner are expected to learn their fates the first week of July.
The twin contests were the first ballot box test since the PM narrowly survived a bruising revolt from 148 of his Tory MPs.
While mid-term elections are historically bad for governments, the results show danger for BoJo in both the Red Wall and Blue Wall.
Heading off a fresh mutiny before the results, Mr Johnson dismissed calls for him to quit as “crazy”.
He insisted he is still a proven winner in the northern towns he mopped up in 2019 – and reminded critics of his historic Hartlepool victory last year.
Conservative leadership rules make the PM immune to a new challenge for another year, although rebels want to tear up the rules.
Rebels will be watching to see if other Cabinet Ministers follow Mr Dowden’s resignation.
BoJo’s rivals seized upon the defeats this morning to ratchet up their calls for him to quit.
Arch Tory rebel Sir Roger Gale said: “The people of the West Country have sent a strong message that they have no confidence in the Prime Minister.”
Sir Ed Davey piled in: “This should be a wake-up call for all those Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson. They cannot afford to ignore this result.”
Sir Keir Starmer said: “Wakefield has shown the country has lost confidence in the Tories. This result is a clear judgement on a Conservative Party that has run out of energy and ideas.”
Governing parties tend to lose by-elections – but scale of defeat is still bad news for Boris
PARTIES in government have a bad track record at winning by-elections.
Disgruntled voters use mid-term contests to give the prime minister a duffing up safe in the knowledge it won’t change who sits in No10.
So it is no surprise that people in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton gave Boris Johnson a bloody nose today.
But the scale of the defeats both in the northern Red Wall and true-blue southern heartlands will set alarm bells ringing in Downing St.
The 12.6 per cent swing to Labour and whopping 30 per cent swing to the Lib Dems puts us in hung Parliament territory.
It will only make jittery Tory MPs even more fearful for their own seats at the next general election.
So far his party has kept faith Boris is still the election superstar who delivered the stunning 80-majority landslide just three years ago.
Yet today’s results show the PM now faces an epic fight to prove to voters both north and south that he is the man to lead them through challenging times.
Both by-elections were triggered after their Tory MPs quit in disgrace.
Imran Ahmad Khan stepped down as Wakefield’s MP after being convicted of sexually assaulting a child.
His wannabe Tory successor Nadeem Ahmed landed himself in hot water during the campaign for saying people should still trust Conservatives because “we still trust GPs after Harold Shipman”.
Neil Parish resigned his Tiverton seat after being caught watching porn in the Commons chamber.
The veteran Tory MP admitted ogling sex videos – but insisted he was trying to google tractors.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun news desk?
Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours
Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.
