Former Leader of Conservative Party Michael Howard has told BBC Radio 4's World at One that Boris Johnson should resign.

"The party, and more importantly the country, would be better off under new leadership."

"Members of the Cabinet should very carefully consider their positions," he told the programme.

On speculation about how the Conservatives could remove the PM - after Johnson won a no confidence vote on 6 June - Howard said "it may be necessary for the executive of the 1922 committee to meet and to decide to change the rules so another leadership [election] could take place".

Michael Howard was Tory party leader between 2003 and 2005, while his party was in opposition against Tony Blair's Labour government.

There'll be the full interview on World at One on Radio 4.

The Lib Dems have been celebrating their big win in Tiverton and Honiton by unveiling a new prop – a big blue door.

The words "It's time to show Boris the door" are emblazoned across it – the Lib Dems say this is what people have been telling them on the streets of east Devon.

Leader Sir Ed Davey offered his congratulations to Devon's new MP Richard Foord saying the residents "have spoken for the British people" by sending a loud and clear message to the PM.

Davey says Johnson has lost the confidence of his own party, of the people of Tiverton and Honiton, and the PM has lost the confidence of the British people.

"Boris Johson has got to go," he adds.

Martyn Oates
BBC South West Political Editor

The South West is a typical rural Conservative stronghold and from the 2015 general election until this by-election electors returned a Conservative MP in all but two constituencies.

So what's changed?

Low wages and high house prices squeezing voters

Devon and Cornwall also had serious socio-economic problems even before the cost of living crisis hit. Low wages, soaring house prices, and spiralling fuel prices are a particular concern in highly-rural constituencies like this, where a car is often seen as essential to live and work.

Farmers on collision course with government over key policy areas

Agriculture shapes the whole landscape of this constituency - farmers say they're ploughing crops back into the fields because they can’t source enough foreign labour under strict new immigration rules.

Livestock farmers are also extremely worried about new trade deals ministers have struck with Australia and New Zealand, fearing they'll be undercut by a flood of cheap foreign meat.

The ending of EU-style farm subsidies is especially feared in an area where small, family farms have relied on them to stay in business.

Prime minister's personality looms large

Boris Johnson's unconventional approach to high office may have won the Conservatives their huge majority in 2019, but two-and-half years later with partygate and the confidence vote fresh in voter's minds, the PM's personality loomed perhaps unusually large in this by-election.

Read more here.

Image source, .

James Vincent
BBC Look North Political Editor

Fans don't back beleaguered clubs

Many people in Wakefield are Leeds United fans. They’ll always support Leeds, but might not go to games if the team is not doing very well. That's potentially what happened here with the Conservatives.

People who are natural Conservative voters may have just stayed at home rather than voting.

Prime minister's no-show may have had an impact

Maybe leader visits do matter in election campaigns. Sir Keir Starmer was in Wakefield a number of times. Boris Johnson was due last week - but went to Ukraine instead. As usual, you can read this both ways. Maybe the Conservatives did not want the PM in front of microphones at difficult times. But it also might have looked like they were not taking the by-election here seriously.

Are voters in the North returning to Labour?

Labour were favourites, but the big question was how big they could win. A narrow victory could potentially have been shrugged off by the Conservatives and seen as Labour voters not taking to Sir Keir. Nearly 5,000 is big enough for Labour to see it as evidence people are coming back to them. But there is a big difference between a by-election and a general election.

Image source, .

Image source, PA Media

Home Secretary Priti Patel has stressed there should be a moment of reflection over the double by-election defeat.

She told Times Radio it was "important that we really reflect" on the results, while also recognising the contests - in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton - were fought against a "difficult and challenging backdrop".

"It's right that we listen to the voters from both of those constituencies... and recognise issues they have raised on the doorstep," she said, in a separate interview on LBC.

Patel said she did not believe there would be any further resignations in the party, adding that the government was "working night and day... focusing on these big issues".

Image source, PA Media

A lot has been happening since the results of the two by-elections - in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton - were announced in the early hours of the morning.

Triumphant wins for Labour, in the north, and the Lib Dems, in the west country, have left the Tories feeling bruised.

Here's how things stand at present.

Some Conservative MPs are making their opinions known.

• Cabinet minister and Conservative Party co-chair Oliver Dowden resigned with immediate effect on Friday morning, saying "someone has to take responsibility".
• Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown called the by-election results "pretty dire" although "not unexpected". He said it called "into question the direction of the government"
• Backbencher Sir Roger Gale - no fan of the PM - accused Johnson of "not listening and blundering on" adding that he had "trashed the reputation" of the Conservative Party

Meanwhile on the opposition benches...

• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC the Tories are "imploding". "They are out of touch and out of ideas," he said
• Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, who ran Labour's campaign in Wakefield, said it was a vote of confidence in Keir Starmer's Labour Party... and a massive rejection of Boris Johnson".
• Celebrating their win in Tiverton, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey claimed voters "were saying Boris Johnson must go"

Over in Rwanda, the PM says he is getting on with the job

• Boris Johnson called the by-election results "tough" and said the government needed "to listen to what people are saying... and the difficulties they are facing" citing the cost-of-living crisis
• He repeated his previous assertion that mid-term government typically lose by-elections, while highlighting the Tories unexpected win in Hartlepool last year.

Normally, by now, ministers would be out and about sharing their support for the PM after a loss in a by-election. The same thing happens after local elections.

What's notable this morning is the absence of comments from sitting members of the Cabinet, strongly in support of Boris Johnson.

As we've mentioned, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has recently popped up on Twitter to say "we all take responsibility" for the losses.

And Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries retweeted this comment from Lord Austin:

While Cabinet Office Minister Nigel Adams said by-elections "don't tell you much about how general elections pan out".

Dominic Raab did the morning broadcast round after Oliver Dowden, who was due to do it this morning, resigned dramatically in the early hours. And Home Secretary Priti Patel also appeared on some outlets.

It is said that Boris Johnson will be speaking to the Cabinet later on today on a call from Rwanda. It's possible we might see some renewed support publicly shown for him after that.

Rishi Sunak has tweeted, after hours of silence on his feed, following the by-election losses.

He says he is sorry Conservative co-chair Oliver Dowden has resigned, adding that "we all take responsibility for the results".

He says he's "determined to continue working to tackle the cost of living".

Ewan Murrie
Political reporter in Devon

I've been one of about a dozen local journalists who have been following this very closely from the get-go and I must say none of us saw this coming. We all thought it would be much, much closer.

The Tiverton and Honiton result is the biggest by-election win in British history, with the Liberal Democrats achieving a swing of 29.9% to get 52% of the vote – it's a huge victory here for the Liberal Democrats.

This is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, and obviously all of the Conservative MPs in Devon and across the country will be looking very closely at their own majorities and wondering whether they want Boris Johnson to lead them into the next general election.

Certainly, when I've been out and about speaking to people, it has been the national issues that have been coming up.

Apart from the cost of living - which has definitely been the biggest issue - it's all been about partygate, the leadership of the government and the direction of travel for the country as a whole.

More from Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who is treasurer of the party's influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.

He says that the by-election results are "pretty dire" and admits they "call into question the direction of the government".

Clifton-Brown says he voted against Boris in the recent confidence vote - but accepts the majority of his party backed him in that vote.

However, he says the Tories will now have to make difficult decisions.

Normally Conservative MPs wouldn't be allowed to hold another confidence vote for a year, but there has been speculation the rules could be changed.

Clifton-Brown says we owe it to the PM to listen to what he says, when he's back in the country, about turning these very serious problems around.

"I just don’t think the PM has realised how serious the situation is," he adds.

Image source, UK Government

Of course, the by-election in Tiverton and Honiton was triggered by the resignation of Neil Parish who stood down after admitting he watched pornography twice in Parliament.

He's been speaking to the BBC and says the by-election result was a shock but "very much a sort of national vote, really".

Speaking on BBC Radio Devon, he said there was "a lot going on out there" and "the party paid the price for it".

Asked if he thought the prime minister should follow in the footsteps of Conservative Party co-chairman Oliver Dowden and resign, Parish said that was a decision for the PM.

"I've never told him to do that and I shall not do that now," he said.

“In politics and democracy, you go out and ask the people their verdict," he added.

"I think it’s clear, their verdict this morning, and I think it is for the prime minister to look at this very seriously."

Image source, Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Conservative co-chair Oliver Dowden was due on Radio 4's Today programme this morning, but he pulled out after his resignation.

So instead we heard from deputy PM Dominic Raab - the only Cabinet member that we have heard from so far today.

He described the Tory by-election losses as being the result of a "perfect storm".

"My view is that the by-elections… were the result of the perfect storm of very difficult local scenarios – given the situations of the previously sitting Conservative MPs.

"Plus the national headwinds… for a mid-term government, but also, frankly, the distractions that we've had," he said.

"I think the prime minister put it well: we need to listen very carefully, we need to take that feedback.

"I think [with] Tiverton, the most striking thing is how many of our supporters didn't come out."

Sir Ed Davey has been telling the BBC his party's win in Tiverton and Honiton is a "fantastic result for the Liberal Democrats".

"It was the biggest Tory majority ever overturned in a by-election in British election history," he says.

"I think people were saying Boris Johnson must go."

Davey says people on the doorstep were saying Johnson was "not fit and decent to be the prime minister of our great country".

People are deeply worried about rising prices, not being able to put food on the table, the price of petrol, and they don’t feel the PM has a grip at all, Davey adds.

The party has recently won three by-elections in Tory heartlands, and Davey says he thinks it feels like the mid-90s when the Tories had been in a long time and people began turning to the Lib Dems.

Asked about the resignation of Tory co-chairman Oliver Dowden, Davey says, "It's not the resignation I want," adding people in East Devon weren't talking about Oliver Dowden, as they've "never heard of him".

Image source, Reuters

We've been hearing from elections guru Professor Sir John Curtice.

He says at this point in the political cycle, by-elections provide us with a valuable indicator of where the parties stand – but it's often an exaggerated indicator. Governments always do relatively badly during a mid-term of a parliament.

Curtice does say, however, that adding in the other three by-elections held over the past year, on average the Conservative vote is down by 20 points.

You have to go back to John Major's government of 1992-97 to find a government struggling as much.

He adds that it is not a happy precedent – as Major led his party to a serious defeat in 1997.

Curtice highlights the apparent willingness of opposition voters - particularly Labour supporters - to vote tactically.

Labour voters now seem willing to back the Lib Dems in a bid to remove Tory MPs. If this pattern continues in a general election the losses would be far greater for the Conservatives, Curtice says.

Will more senior Tories follow Dowden's lead?published at 09:26 British Summer Time 24 June 2022

09:26 BST 24 June 2022

Ione Wells
Westminster Correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

What's striking about Tory party co-chairman Oliver Dowden's resignation letter is his stated commitment to the Conservative Party... but no explicit mention of loyalty to Boris Johnson himself.

He emphasises the government "can't carry on with business as usual", which is a stark contrast to the prime minister's message today that "we will keep going."

Other government ministers will be weighing up this morning which message they agree with.

The question on a lot of people's lips this morning is will Dowden be the last to go, or to express discontent publicly?

Certainly, for some time there have been some ministers privately expressing unhappiness with the direction of government right now - some are irked by "partygate", others over taxes, and others are discontent with specific policies like the Rwanda migrant plan despite defending them publicly.

Many in government are keeping thoughts close to their chest this morning.

One Tory MP told the BBC it spoke volumes that they were hearing "absolute silence" from other cabinet ministers about further resignations.

Others are more optimistic, with one saying these results were "priced in."

Certainly among some in government there is a sense this is now make-or-break time for those in the higher echelons of government.

As one government source puts it: "The question is how confident are people that Boris Johnson can turn this around in less than two years?"

Vicki Young
Deputy Political Editor

A few MPs and ministers are suggesting former party chairman Oliver Dowden resigned before losing his job in a reshuffle - there has certainly been gossip that he would be fired.

Other Cabinet ministers will be making a similar calculation about their longevity. Those seeking promotion, or a return to government, might think this is a good time to offer the prime minister a public backing.

Downing Street is busy trying to line up supportive colleagues to hit the airwaves.

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent, reporting from Kigali, Rwanda

Image source, Reuters

Despite the by-election losses and Oliver Dowden's surprise resignation, there are seemingly no wobbles from No 10 team in Kigali this morning.

I'm told Boris Johnson was up at his usual early hour exercising and fully across the news. I understand the PM has been in touch with senior members of his cabinet this morning - as, I'm told, he regularly is.

There are no plans for him to return to the UK and cut short his diplomatic trip – first here at a meeting of Commonwealth leaders then off for gatherings of the G7 and Nato.

Boris Johnson told reporters here in Rwanda he had to listened to voters - Downing Street are clearly keen to show the PM getting on with the job - despite the damage these results have done.

PM Boris Johnson says he has to "listen" following "tough" by-election results.

Speaking in a pooled interview Johnson says: "It's absolutely true we've had some tough by-election results, they've been… a reflection of a lot of things – but we've got to recognise voters are going through a tough time at the moment."

He adds: "I've got to listen to what people are saying, in particular to the difficulties people are facing over the cost of living."

But Johnson, who is in Rwanda for a Commonwealth summit, also says that mid-term governments often do lose by-elections.

Alongside Sir Keir Starmer in Wakefield was Labour's newly elected MP Simon Lightwood, who thanked those who helped him secure his victory.

"We did it, we turned Wakefield red again," he said to cheers from the assembled crowd, "giving the people of Wakefield back their voice in Parliament, so thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

"Now it's time to get on with the job."

More now from Labour's Keir Starmer who describes the result in Wakefield as a "huge swing to Labour".

He tells BBC political correspondent Iain Watson that he couldn't be prouder of this "historic moment".

Starmer says the Tories are "imploding", adding that "if they had any decency they'd get out the way for the next Labour government".

He says Wakefield showed people exercising their judgement on this Conservative government – and voting no confidence

"For two years we've been turning our party around – and we've been able to show voters we're a confident party, we're a united party and we're focused on the issues that affect working people," he adds.