Oliver Dowden quits as Tory chair after by-election mauling - 'We cannot carry on with business as usual'
"Somebody must take responsibility," Mr Dowden said in a letter to the PM after the Tories were defeated by the Liberal Democrats in Tiverton and Honiton, and by Labour in Wakefield.
Friday 24 June 2022 09:48, UK
Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden has resigned after the party slumped to two by-election defeats.
Mr Dowden said in a letter to Boris Johnson that the defeats were "the latest in a run of very poor results" and added: "We cannot carry on with business as usual."
He is the first Cabinet minister to fall on his sword in the wake of the pressure swirling around the prime minister over the partygate scandal - which has already prompted 148 Tory MPs to oppose the PM in a vote of no confidence.
In a letter to Mr Dowden, the PM said he understood the MP's "disappointment" at the by-election defeats, but said the government had a "historic mandate" to govern.
Politics Hub: All the fall-out as Boris Johnson suffers triple by-election blow
The Conservatives saw a majority of 24,000, or more than 40%, evaporate in Honiton and Tiverton, where they were defeated by the Liberal Democrats - a record reversal for the party.
They also lost Wakefield, the "red wall" seat snatched by the Tories in 2019, which went back to Labour.
Mr Dowden - who had been due to appear on the broadcast round of interviews this morning - said: "Our supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events, and I share their feelings.
"We cannot carry on with business as usual.
"Somebody must take responsibility and I have concluded that, in these circumstances, it would not be right for me to remain in office."
He added that it was a "deeply personal decision" and that he would "as always, remain loyal to the Conservative Party".
Sky News' political editor, Beth Rigby, understands the resignation took Mr Johnson by surprise.
A source close to the prime minister said he took a brief call from Mr Dowden shortly after he had made his decision public.
Sources close to the PM emphasised he was blindsided by the news, particularly as the former chairman had been preparing PMQs with him on Wednesday, and had warned they were likely to lose both by-elections.
The hammering for the Tories was Mr Johnson's latest electoral mauling after the party lost nearly 500 council seats in local elections at the start of last month.
They also suffered shock results when the Liberal Democrats overturned big Conservative majorities in North Shropshire and Chesham and Amersham last year.
The fall-out from the latest votes comes with the PM thousands of miles away in Rwanda where he is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference.
He said ahead of the result that it would be "crazy" for him to quit if the Tories lost the two seats.
And after the defeats, he stuck to his guns, saying it was normal for governments to be "punished at the polls" in the middle of their term.
Simon Lightwood, who won the Wakefield by-election for Labour, said: "I think people are absolutely tired of the lies and deceit we've seen from the prime minister and they're demanding change and tonight is the demonstration of that."
Analysis:
Oliver Dowden has jumped, perhaps before he was pushed - but will others follow?
By-election losses will seep like poison slowly into the Tory bloodstream
Tories suffer some of the worst by-election defeats since 1945
Richard Foord who took Tiverton and Honiton for the Lib Dems used his acceptance speech to call for Mr Johnson "to go, and go now", claiming his victory had "sent a shockwave through British politics".
Labour leader 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."
Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "This should be a wake-up call for all those Conservative MPs propping up Boris Johnson. They cannot afford to ignore this result.
"The public is sick of Boris Johnson's lies and law-breaking and it's time for Conservative MPs to finally do the right thing and sack him."
The by-elections, both in leave-voting constituencies, took place on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit referendum.
They were each triggered by the resignations of Conservative MPs: in Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish quit after he admitted to watching pornography on his mobile phone in the Commons chamber; in Wakefield, Imran Ahmad Khan stepped down after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
It became apparent soon after polls closed that it would be a bad night for the Tories.
Luke Hall, the party's deputy chair, told Sky News it had been a "challenging campaign" and pointed to the impact of divisions laid bare by the confidence vote.
"I certainly would accept that disunity in political parties means parties do not win elections," he said.