Boris Johnson says he will 'listen' to voters but 'keep going' after by-election defeats

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has said he will 'listen' to voters but 'keep going' after the Conservatives suffered two heavy by-election losses. The defeats in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton led to Oliver Dowden resigning as the Tory party co-chairman.

The Lib Dems overturned a 24,000 Conservative majority to take Tiverton and Hointon and Labour regained the West Yorkshire constituency of Wakefield by 4,925 votes from the Tories. Speaking as the Lib Dems called for him to be 'pushed out', Mr Johnson said the party would 'get through this patch'.

Speaking to broadcasters in Kigali, Rwanda, the Prime Minister said: "It's absolutely true we've had some tough by-election results, they've been, I think, a reflection of a lot of things, but we've got to recognise voters are going through a tough time at the moment.

"I think, as a Government, I've got to listen to what people are saying, in particular to the difficulties people are facing over the cost of living, which, I think, for most people is the number one issue. We're now facing pressures on the cost of living, we're seeing spikes in fuel prices, energy costs, food costs – that's hitting people.

"We've got to recognise there is more we've got to do and we certainly will, we will keep going, addressing the concerns of people until we get through this patch."

"I think that what governments also have to recognise is that I don't want to minimise the importance of what voters are saying, but it is also true that in mid-term, government, post-war, lose by-elections. I think if you look back to last May the truly astonishing thing was we managed to win Hartlepool in very different circumstances.

"What we need to do now is reflect on where voters are, and what