Embarrassing defeat as UK PM Johnson's party loses out at election

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered an embarrassing defeat in a election on the outskirts of London on Friday, when his governing Conservative Party lost a previously safe parliamentary seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives had comfortably held the leafy, affluent Chesham and Amersham constituency in southern England since its creation in 1974, capturing more than 50% of the vote on every occasion. At the last poll in 2019, Conservative Cheryl Gillan, who died this year, won by a majority of 16,223 votes. Since a divisive referendum in 2016, Brexit has helped reshape Britain's political landscape, with people switching party loyalties in a way not seen for generations. Support for the Conservatives has surged in northern England.