Labor Party candidate Simon Lightwood arrives at a tally center after a by-election in Wakefield, Britain June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looked set to suffer a crushing defeat in a parliamentary by-election on Friday as the centrist Liberal Democrats claimed a “historic victory” in what had been a seat safe conservative.

The election result, if confirmed, could renew speculation over Johnson’s future after he was fined for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules, with discontent also growing amid a growing cost crisis of life.

The seat of Tiverton and Honiton, in a deeply conservative part of South West England, stood with a majority of more than 24,000 in 2019. The Liberal Democrats said a victory for them in the election on Thursday would make it the biggest majority ever. overthrown in a British parliamentary by-election.

“It looks like a clear victory. The people of Tiverton and Honiton have spoken for the country,” a Liberal Democrat spokesman said. The official result has not yet been announced.

“This is a historic victory for the Liberal Democrats and a devastating blow for Tory MPs who continue to back Boris Johnson.”

In the separate parliamentary seat of Wakefield, in the north of England, the opposition Labor party also expressed confidence in its ability to defeat the Tories.

The by-elections were triggered by high-profile resignations by Tory lawmakers – one who admitted watching pornography in parliament and another convicted of sexually abusing a teenager.

Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Tom Hogue and Raju Gopalakrishnan

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