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A file photo of Oliver Dowden and Boris Johnson at the Conservative party conference.Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Boris Johnson should quit or be forced out of office, former party leader Michael Howard has said.
Howard, who led the Tories in opposition, told the BBC: "I think the party, and even more importantly the country, would now be better off under new leadership."
He called for the 1922 committee to consider changing the rules so that a new leadership vote, despite Johnson having narrowly won during a recent challenge. Cabinet ministers should also "very carefully consider their positions, as Oliver Dowden has done", Howard said.
Dowden resigned as Conservative Party chairman early Friday morning, saying: "We cannot carry on with business as usual. Somebody must take responsibility." Dowden's letter makes no mention of support for the prime minister, but only his loyalty to the party.
Other senior Tories have also suggested Johnson could face a fresh leadership challenge.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Treasurer of the 1922 committee, said the Conservative Party will hold "serious discussions" in the next few days "and then we will all have to make difficult decisions".
Malcolm Rifkind, who served in Margaret Thatcher's final Cabinet, said Johnson could be brought down by a dozen junior ministers.
A Conservative MP elected in 2019 to a "red wall" seat has told Insider they believe Johnson does not have any plans to address the party's unpopularity with voters, demonstrated in early May by the local elections and in the by-election defeats.
The MP was given anonymity to speak candidly about the party.
"I'm not surprised by the results," the MP said. "It mirrored what I felt in the local elections."
They added: "And I don't think the PM has any plans to fix it either, because we just keep getting told this is normal mid term. Depressing."
Ministers supportive of Johnson, such as Nadine Dorries (see earlier), have argued that it is typical for a government to lose by-elections mid term as voters seek to give them a kicking.
Of the 14 by-elections in Conservative-held seats since 2010, the party has lost nine. But worryingly, four of those have been in little over a year since June 2021.
Johnson is now giving a press conference from Kigali.
Former Conservative leader Michael Howard has called for Boris Johnson to quit, after the party lost two key seats in the by-elections overnight.
Howard, who led the Tories between 2003 and 2005, told BBC's World at One: "I think the party, and even more importantly the country, would now be better off under new leadership."
He added: "[Johnson's] biggest asset has always been his ability to win votes, but yesterday's results make it clear that he no longer has that ability.
"The best person who has the ability to judge the mood of both the party and the electorate is its chairman. I have enormous respect for Oliver Dowden and the implications of his resignation letter are, I think, very clear."
Howard noted that in the by-elections "the electorate delivered its verdict... I don't think it's very likely that he will [resign] but there are others who can take action, who can make that course come about".
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said his party plans to "get rid of a lot of Conservative MPs" in a future general election, although admits he can't put a number on it.
The Lib Dems often do well in by-elections as a "protest vote" against whoever the incumbent is, but national votes are a very different matter.
Speaking from Tiverton, Davey tells reporters: "It is difficult to say, as we are maybe two years from a general election.
"The fact we have won three parliamentary by-elections in just over 12 months suggests we are going to make advances and are going to get rid of a lot of Conservative MPs."
"It is too early to put a number of it but we certainly intend to get rid of a lot of Conservative MPs."
Paul Scully, the small business minister, is filling in on Sky New after Oliver Dowden resigned.
He admits "it's not been a good evening for the party by any stretch of the imagination", but that the government will "respond".
Scully says voters will reward those who "govern well", pointing to policies meant to address the spiraling cost of living in the UK.
"It is not business as usual, we will reflect, we will listen and we will respond," he adds.
Boris Johnson "has always said he will take personal responsibility", but is still the right person for the job, Scully says.
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, has been covering for Oliver Dowden on BBC Radio 4, after his colleague quit as Conservative Party chairman this morning.
Raab says the poor by-election results were down to a "perfect storm of very difficult local scenarios, given the situations of the previous sitting Conservative MPs, plus the national headwinds".
He said the "distractions we have had" are also a factor. But he then argues that the Tories will spend the next two years trying to win support back.
Asked if he is talking about business as usual – something Dowden criticised in his letter – Raab says: "We have had distractions because of partygate, because of too much Westminster internal focus when people want to see us focused on their priorities."
He then highlights support that the Government has brought forward to deal with the cost of living crisis.
Boris Johnson said he will "listen to what people are saying", as he sought to play down the impact of partygate on the by-election results.
The prime minister thanked Oliver Dowden, whom he called an "excellent party chairman."
Johnson said it was "absolutely true we have had some tough by-election results, [but] they have been a reflection of a lot of things".
He tells broadcasters: "We have got to recognise that voters are going through a tough time at the moment. We have got to listen to what people are saying, particularly in the difficulties over the cost of living, which for most people is the number one issue."
However Johnson stressed that "mid-term governments, post-war, lose by-elections".
Asked about the Sue Gray report into lockdown-busting parties held in Downing Street, he added: "Historically, over the last 50 years or more, you have seen governments punished at the polls mid-term, particularly when people are feeling economic pressures."
Former minister Lord Frost says the by-election results are "terrible" for the Tories but are not "particularly good" for Labour or the Liberal Democrats either.
Frost, who has been increasingly critical of Boris Johnson, said: "In contrast to many 'normal' mid-term by-elections, these do not show strong protest votes for the opposition.
"They show people who voted for us in 2019 refusing to come out and do so again. We as Conservatives must decide why that is, and what we do about it."
Boris Johnson is thousands of miles from home, in Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
According to PA Media, the prime minister said he would "listen" to voters but "keep going" after the double by-election defeat.
On his way to Rwanda, he told journalists: "Governing parties generally do not win by-elections, particularly not in midterm. You know, I'm very hopeful, but you know, there you go.
Asked to confirm he was not considering his future, he replied: "Are you crazy?"
However, the resignation of Oliver Dowden is putting renewed pressure on the prime minister.
Gavin Barwell, the chief of staff under former prime minister Theresa May, says the Conservative party risks "sleepwalking into a defeat" at a future general election.
He tells Sky News that the Tiverton & Honiton result is "catastrophic" because "it means there is a whole swathe of seats across the south of the country that are vulnerable".
The peer adds: "Finally, finally, somebody in the Cabinet has taken the decision to stand down.
"If the Conservative party carries on as it is, it is sleepwalking into a defeat at the next election, so I am very pleased that somebody senior in the party has recognised that and done something about it."
The party "can't just change the figurehead" - it has to change direction, to avoid this, he argues.
Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has said the prime minister should "honourably" be considering standing down following the by-election results.
Gale, who has long criticised Johnson and was among those to go public with his letter of no confidence, says: "Spin them how you like the by- election results in Tiverton & Honiton and in Wakefield are another vote of no-confidence in a Prime Minister that ought to honourably this morning be re-considering his position.
"Commiserations to Conservative candidates who deserved better. The soul of our Party is at stake."
Gale adds: "Oliver Dowden is a decent and honourable man who has clearly decided that he can no longer defend the indefensible."
Good Morning.
The UK is waking up to the news that the Conservatives have lost both by-elections, piling further pressure onto Boris Johnson.
The Red Wall seat of Wakefield had been expected to swing back to Labour, but Tories had still be hopeful that Tiverton & Honiton would remain blue, albeit with a smaller majority.
But the by-election has ended such hopes, and laid bare the scale of the challenge now facing Johnson's Conservatives in both the Red Wall and traditional Tory areas.
"It would be a real mistake for the Conservatives to retain Boris Johnson as their leader and it could be electoral suicide for them," Richard Foord told Sky News after winning.
He said Johnson should take a lesson from Neil Parish, his predecessor, who resigned over allegations he was watching pornography in the House of Commons.
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