Flickers of joy amongst the desolation of 2022 can be felt through a good amount of the UK as the Conservatives were thoroughly beaten in last week’s 2 by-elections.
The first was in Tiverton and Honiton, where the Tory incumbent had to quit on the basis of having been caught watching porn in the House of Commons . Word on the street was that he was innocently searching for a “Dominator”-branded farm vehicle but got led astray, twice.
The Lib Dems made out there, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 24,000 - rumoured to be the biggest majority ever to be overturned in a by-election, with an unprecedented 30 point swing.
Even their classic post victory stunt was only about 90% cringe this time.
The second was in Wakefield. The Tory incumbent there had to go, this time on the extremely upsetting basis that he had been sent to jail for sexually assaulting a 15 year old boy.
Here it was Labour who got the seat, this time with a margin of 4,921 votes, around a 13% swing.
It’s not a naturally Conservative seat, the 2019 outcome having been the first time they held it within nearly 90 years. But still, hopefully a sign that the “Red Wall” is vulnerable. At least if you’re a party who just can’t get rid of a leader that most of the population think is doing a real bad job at playing Prime Minister according to the latest YouGov polling.
When asked whether he would be resigning given this catastrophic result, Boris Johnson seemed to be continuing the trend of not letting real life get in the way of his hopes and dreams, and started talking about his third term.
That implies he’s confident he’ll still be “leading” our country in the 2030s; a thought described as “completely delusional” by one of his previous cabinet ministers.