Tiverton and Honiton elect Lib Dem MP after Tory ersigned for watching porn in Commons

Residents of the seat that just voted to oust Boris Johnson's party from power say they're both 'thrilled' and 'disappointed' with the result as the Lib Dems win.

The people of Tiverton, Devon, voted in a by-election in the seat on Thursday (24/6) as the Liberal Democrats aimed to pull the rug from under the Tories.

Securing a landside victory with a 38.6% swing to the Lib Dems, onlookers driving past party leader Ed Davey's victory speech honked their car horns and cheered at the result.

One local resident, retired Maggie Gard, in her 60's, said she voted Lib Dem tactically to get rid of the Conservative Party despite voting Green in the 2019 general election.

She said: "I just wanted to get the Tories out really.

"The Lib Dem guy seems okay. He seems like he has good policies for the environment, so he was definitely a good choice.

"I don't know many people who would vote Conservative at the moment - or at least not many that would admit it."

Maggie's friend, Paul Smith, 67, added: "We're really happy today. It's a great day for the country.

"I think it'd be great for the opposition parties if Boris stayed on, but on the other hand he's destroying so much of this country, breaking up the institutions.

"I dont know how much more we can take of this."

Maggie added: "The things he's doing to our democracy too just seem dangerous, restricting protests, bringing in new police laws.

"I dont think Boris Johnson move out of No.10 unless he's forced out. But they can't get rid of him for 12 months, so we might just be stuck with him.

"He's eroded any opposition within his party because he's pushed out anyone who wasn't his man, so nobody will stand up for him."

Asked whether she admired Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden for his resignation, Maggie said: "I dont know really. I think he's probably just taken the leap for him.

"I doubt much will come of it. I'm going to keep my mind open about the next general election.

"It depends what the political situation is in the country in 2024, whether I'll vote Lib Dem again."

Meanwhile, one new resident David Smythe, who moved to Tiverton just yesterday, said: "To be honest, I don't think I would have voted yesterday even if I had registered in time.

"I think it's quite hard to be a Conservative at the moment. The party has changed a lot in the last ten years.

"I've always voted Tory, but it's become very difficult over the last year.

"I think their candidate would have been much better than the guy who got caught looking at porn in the chamber, but I don't know if I'd have backed him."

David, 50, said he'd probably vote Conservative at the next election.

He added: "I do think Boris has probably got more flak than he deserved.

"The last three years have been pretty difficult with the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis, and I dont think anyone would have done a perfect job in solving it.

"Frankly even though he probably broke the rules, I expect millions of us did too - I know I probably did accidentally.

"I like the man, I think he reminds me of myself and other people like me, so I dont know if I want him to resign now - but something needs to be different."