'Acid test' polls will decide the PM's fate

BORIS Johnson faces an acid test this week in two key by-elections that could make or break him as Conservative leader.

- David Williamson and Jonathan Walker

Tory candidate Helen Hurford expects Thursday's poll in Tiverton and Honiton to be "very, very close" but she is fighting to keep the Devon constituency blue.

The loss of the seat, won in 2019 with a 24,239 majority, to the Lib Dems would horrify Tories and intensify efforts to remove the PM.

But a win could transform his current standing.

The poll was triggered when MP Neil Parish resigned after watching pornography in the Commons.

Conservatives are also defending Wakefield, West Yorks, where they have a majority of just 3,358 and Labour are the main challengers.

Wakefield's former MP, Imran Ahmad Khan, was jailed for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Mr Johnson was bruised earlier this month when 148 Conservative MPs voted against him in a confidence motion and his character is once again in the spotlight following the resignation of his ethics adviser Lord Geidt.