Boris Johnson has said he takes “personal responsibility” for Conservative defeat in the North Shropshire by-election, but refused to say if he would step down if it was in the interests of the party and the country.
Interviewed on the morning after the historic rout, the prime minister repeatedly tried to suggest that voter “frustration” with the government was down to the media’s focus on stories of sleaze and lockdown-breaching Downing Street parties.
He said that a “constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians” in the headlines had drowned out the government’s messages on issues like Covid, healthcare and jobs.
And he accepted that this included his own attempt to change parliament’s sleaze rules, which triggered Thursday’s by-election after disgraced MP Owen Paterson resigned rather than accept a suspension from the Commons.
“I am responsible for everything that the government does and of course I take a personal responsibility,” he said.
It was his job to try to persuade the media to move their focus away from stories about parties in Downing Street and onto issues that affected voters’ lives, said Mr Johnson.
But asked whether he would resign as PM if became clear that he was an electoral liability for his party and that his removal would be good for the country, he dodged the question.
Insisting that voters did not want to hear politicians talking about themselves, he replied: “That is exactly the kind of question that breaks the golden rule.
“What we’re focusing on is getting the job done. What we’re focusing on is trying to make sure that we not only have the fastest vaccine and the fastest booster rollout, as we’ve already done, but we’re able because of the Get Boosted Now campaign to avert some of the more damaging consequences of Omicron.
“That is what the government is engaged in doing. That is what I am focused on. And you know what I think that is what people would want me to be focused on right now.”
Mr Johnson described the loss of a 23,000 majority in North Shropshire as “very disappointing”.
And he added: “I totally understand people’s frustrations. I hear what the voters are saying in North Shropshire. And in all humility, I’ve got to accept that that verdict.
“What I would say is, of course, I understand that what voters want us as the government to be doing at all times, is to focus on them and on their priorities. And my job as prime minister is to get the focus onto the stuff that really matters to all of us.”
Asked whether reports of parties in Downing Street were to blame for the defeat, Mr Johnson said: “Basically what’s been going wrong is that in the last few weeks, some things have been going very well but what people have been hearing is just a constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians and stuff that isn’t about them, and isn’t about the things that we can do to make life better.”
He told his interviewer: “The job of the government is to make people like you interested in the booster rollout and in skills and in housing, and in everything else that we’re doing.
“Unfortunately, you’re totally right, we haven’t been able to get the focus on those issues.”
Mr Johnson accepted that his own attempt to save Mr Paterson from punishment for paid lobbying had fuelled voter frustration, saying it “comes into the overall category of politicians talking about ourselves and seeming to be focused on these issues at the expense of things that really matter to people”.
