Britain's Conservatives were mostly licking their fresh wounds on Friday.

It is not uncommon for a governing party to do poorly in by-elections, especially in the middle of a legislative period.

But what happened in the constituency of Tiverton and Honiton in south-west England on Thursday is unparalleled in the country's long electoral history.

Peter Storm

Editor in politics, responsible for "political books".

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The fact that the conservative candidate won the 2019 general election there (by a margin of more than 24,000 votes) was hardly noticed outside the constituency.

After all, the conservatives had always won there for about 100 years.

Now, however, this huge lead has turned into a deficit of more than 6,000 votes.

Who is responsible for the defeat?

Election analysts say no other by-election has seen such a massive swing in favor.

The statement by local journalists, who claim to have noticed during the election campaign, that the electorate's decision was not due to the misconduct of the former member of parliament, but rather to "national" issues, also gives cause for great concern.

As a result, responsibility for the defeat in the south-west, like that at Wakefield in northern England, falls to the party's headquarters in London.

Secretary General Oliver Dowden took the consequences for himself immediately after the results became known and announced his resignation.

But it was not only the victorious opposition parties Liberal Democrats (in Tiverton) and Labor (in Wakefield) who announced on Friday that nobody really had anything to complain about about Oliver Dowden.

The problem is Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

As usual, he was combative on Friday.

But public support from within his own party has remained remarkably uninspired.

Even the members of the cabinet, who had been loudly drumming for Johnson in the confidence vote of the House of Commons a few weeks ago, held back elegantly.

Can Labor tame the unions?

In fact, the former voting engine threatens to become a brake on the conservatives.

The topic of "Partygate", which had been discussed in detail and emotionally in the past few weeks, obviously only plays a subordinate role.

Rather, dissatisfaction with the government and its prime minister is mainly due to the general economic situation.

Rising living costs are a burden for consumers in many countries.

But some things are even worse in Great Britain than elsewhere.

Many people are wondering what the Prime Minister's prescription for this is.

He is never at a loss for flowery and strong words.

And he keeps saying he'll listen to people and solve their problems.

Johnson's difficulties are many.

In a historically unique situation in December 2019, he managed to bring down the so-called "Red Wall" from constituencies held by the Labor Party in northern England.

At the time, voters there were concerned that the exit of Great Britain from the European Union, which the majority of them wanted, could still fail.

As it turned out, they rightly saw the implementation of Brexit as best in the hands of Boris Johnson.

The associated promises, however, have not materialized.

And now it is becoming apparent that voters in the economically disadvantaged region did not become staunch conservatives overnight.

The Moor (Johnson) has done his Brexit debt.

Now, many believe he could go again, because the conservatives' traditional recipes for economic development are just not what voters in the North want.

Growing militancy in some unions

On the other hand, Johnson is also facing growing criticism from the traditional Conservative constituency.

It is said that the party has always advocated a "lean" state with low taxes.

This is followed by the question of whether a significant tax cut can be expected before the next general election (2024 at the latest).

Johnson has so far avoided an answer to this question.

Whether a massive tax cut would really be realistic in view of the numerous challenges, including ones with an impact on finances, seems unlikely to many.

However, one factor in the growing discontent in the country could be in favor of the conservatives in the near future.

Some unions are becoming increasingly militant.

The strikes on the railways have caused sometimes chaotic conditions.

To what extent the Labor Party - which once emerged from the trade union movement - would be able to maintain social peace is quite uncertain.

However, under the leadership of Keir Starmer, the party is no longer the actually unelectable club that the party under the left-wing radical Jeremy Corbyn was in 2019.

What is most exciting in the short term, however, is what consequences the vociferous silence of many leading Conservatives will have on Boris Johnson's political future.