As it happened: Johnson 'accepts verdict' after shock by-election defeat

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We're drawing our live coverage to a close. Here's the latest after the Liberal Democrats’ shock by-election victory in the traditionally very safe Tory seat of North Shropshire:

• Boris Johnson blamed his party's defeat on a "constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians" in the media in recent weeks
• But the PM added he had to accept voters' verdict "in all humility", adding: “I totally understand people’s frustrations, I hear what the voters are saying"
• In their latest by-election victory stunt, Helen Morgan, the new Lib Dem MP, used a yellow pin to burst a blue balloon with "Boris' bubble" on it, as the party held a victory rally
• Veteran Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale gave the PM a warning over his position, saying: "One more strike and he's out"
• Other Tory MPs didn't go quite as far, but said the prime minister needed to change course in the coming months

As we've been reporting, the Lib Dems have taken a seat held by the Tories for nearly two centuries.

At the last election in 2019, the Conservatives won North Shropshire with a majority of almost 23,000 votes. They took 62.7% of the vote.

This graphic gives you a sense of how dominant the Tories have been in the seat.

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Tory backbench MP Philip Dunne, who represents a Shropshire seat, says today's by-election result is "very disappointing" but not "that surprising" for a party in government.

He says the result was "exacerbated by a series of negative stories coming out of Whitehall during the course of this by-election, some of which were self-inflicted".

Asked whether Boris Johnson still retains his appeal to voters, Dunne tells BBC Radio 4's World at One: "The challenge for him will be to make sure it is".

He adds that this will require the PM to deliver on his manifesto promises at the 2019 election, and "ensuring that we don't have banana skins to slip up on inadvertently".

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Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson says Boris Johnson is "drinking in the last chance saloon" after the by-election result.

The Tory peer tells BBC Radio 4's World at One there's been a "general lack of grip" and MPs were looking for a PM who had "less of the drama".

She also says she feels for the Conservative candidate, who she says taken "an almighty kicking" because of events that were outside of his control.

The Tory peer says Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, who got 12,032 votes, is an "immensely qualified and competent individual" - a former army medic, surgeon and barrister.

"I hope he's not left to carry the can," she says.

If you're just joining us this Friday lunchtime - we're bringing you live and continuous coverage after the Liberal Democrats took the safe Conservative seat of North Shropshire following yesterday's by-election.

The vote was called after the constituency's Tory MP Owen Paterson resigned from Parliament having been accused of breaking lobbying rules.

Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan will now represent the largely rural constituency at Westminster, having won an almost 6,000-vote majority.

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As Helen Morgan swept the Lib Dems to victory with a 6,000-vote majority, what went wrong for the Conservatives in this "true blue" area?

This is a quiet corner of England - only 80,000 people live within the geographically huge constituency.

There are no cities, only a handful of market towns.

During the election campaign, voters made clear what mattered to them was local issues: farming, the NHS and improving public transport and connectivity.

Mrs Morgan, an accountant, lives in Harmer Hill, a village just south of Wem. The Conservative candidate Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst hails from Birmingham and many voters questioned whether he could truly understand what makes this rural constituency tick

Continue reading here.

Lynne and Keith Edwards, from Wem, were in Oswestry for market day and told the BBC of their "surprise" at the result.

Lynne said she thought the Conservative candidate, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst, would be elected "with a reduced majority".

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She added: "I think they're [voters] very fed up with what's gone on in the last few weeks, I think the Conservative guy had a really difficult job and with all that's being going on in Westminster, the parties and things like that.

"I think people are sending a bit of a message that perhaps we are fed up and they're telling Boris [Johnson] we want something different."

But she added she thinks Helen Morgan winning is a "temporary blip".

Keith said: "There's been a lot of publicity around Boris in the last few weeks, that undoubtedly had some effect, but how much, I don't know."

Asked what they'd like their new MP to tackle, he said: "We'd like some interest locally, there was a lot of comment about Dr Shastri-Hurst being from Birmingham, we both thought he was an impressive guy, but people were very much attached to somebody local."

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Allegations of lockdown parties in Whitehall have been on the lips of plenty of voters in North Shropshire - and after her election win, Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan told the PM the "party is over".

Asked by a reporter outside a local pub if she had any plans herself to have a victory party later, Morgan laughs and says: "Only with my own family."

Boris Johnson said he is "responsible for everything the government does" after his party lost the former safe seat of North Shropshire in yesterday's by-election.. Thursday’s win by Helen Morgan saw a Conservative majority of 23,000 turned into a 6,000-vote majority for the Liberal Democrats.

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Asked whether he should resign if it would help the Conservative Party, the prime minister replies: "what we're focusing on is getting the job done."

He says he is "focused on" speeding up the government's vaccination programme.

"I think that is what people would want me to be focused on right now," he adds.

On whether he takes personal responsibility for the defeat, Boris Johnson says he accepts his job is to “get the focus” on what matters to people.

Pressed again on whether he was responsible, he adds: “I’m responsible for everything the government does, of course I take personal responsibility”.

Asked later whether he accepts responsibility for his botched attempt to change Commons lobbying rules - which is what prompted the by-election - he replies: “I do”.

"I think my job is to get over what we're doing more effectively," he adds, accepting that the row over parties in Downing Street last year has "obstructed" the task of informing voters about the government's agenda.

He says that over the last few weeks, people have been hearing about a “constant litany of stuff about politicians”, and not about their priorities.

But as Sir Roger Gale speaks another senior Tory backbench MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, says the Conservative party has “got to calm down” despite the "bad" result in North Shropshire.

“This is not a morning when we want to be contemplating a big blame game, or a big change – we need to just work out what we need to do in the future," he tells Sky News.

Asked about Boris Johnson's position as leader, Clifton-Brown replies: “At the moment I want him to succeed, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt."

However, he says he wants the prime minister to "think carefully how he governs this country", and how to avoid repeating the "self-inflicted own goals" of recent months.

BBC Newsnight's Lewis Goodall takes a look at what the North Shropshire by-election means for the Conservatives.

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More now from veteran Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale, who tells the BBC the by-election was "a referendum on the performance of Downing Street".

Gale - who is an outspoken critic of the PM - says Johnson now has three weeks to "get his house in order" while Parliament breaks for Christmas.

The North Thanet MP says the rebellion by 99 Tory MPs against a government vote this week showed the "strength of feeling in Parliament" - while this morning's result showed the strength of feeling in the country.

Gale adds that people don't want or need a leadership election middle of the pandemic but says he would be surprised if Johnson fought the next election.