North Shropshire: Voters ‘gave us a kicking’, Tory party chair admits after by-election defeat

The chair of the Conservative Party has admitted North Shropshire voters “gave us a kicking” by electing the Liberal Democrat candidate on Thursday. Speaking on Sky News, Oliver Dowden said constituents were “fed up” and “wanted to send us a message”. “I want to say it’s chimed with the Conservative Party, we’ve heard that loud and clear. We need to get on with delivering the job and that’s precisely what we’re doing,” the former culture secretary said. Helen Morgan won the by-election with almost 18,000 votes, overturning a Tory majority of 23,000.

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