Britain’s political parties will soon be fighting another by-election (special election) after Welsh Conservative Chris Davies was unseated by his own constituents in a recall petition, the second successful use of the removal mechanism ever.

Chris Davies, who represented the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency until today had pleaded guilty for submitting false expenses claims earlier this year. His conviction for the offence was followed by a recall petition which has now succeeded.

His seat had previously been held by the Liberal Democrats, who will particularly target the seat, despite Davies having secured a strong majority of 8,038 for the Conservatives in 2018. Their candidate for the forthcoming election said of the Davies: “Thousands of residents across Brecon and Radnorshire have taken the chance to demand better than a Westminster politics that fails to take their concerns seriously.

“Now we have a golden opportunity to do things differently. The clear choice in this by-election is between the Conservatives, whose chaos and infighting is letting our communities down, and a better future for our area with the Welsh Lib Dems.”

The Liberal Democrats have been enjoying a period of unusually high support given their position as the only major UK political party who campaign on a fully anti-Brexit, pro-European Union platform. Indeed, their European Union election campaign manifesto was titled ‘Bollocks to Brexit’.

The position of opposing Brexit is a minority opinion in the United Kingdom, however, and the only national political party fully supporting a full Brexit is enjoying even higher support — the Brexit Party. Nigel Farage’s new political force has been at the top of the Westminster general election polls for three weeks.

Brexit Party Chairman Richard Tice said of Davies’ removal by voters: “The sheer scale of the vote to force a recall and a by-election shows how strongly the level of dissatisfaction with politics in the country is rising up the agenda. The Brexit Party will be contesting the forthcoming by-election.

“It is clear that people of this county want to change politics for good.”

The party may enjoy a boost in Brecon and Radnorshire, given the area voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum, as did Wales as a whole. Nathan Gill, a Brexit Party Euro-MP for Wales said of the forthcoming special election: “This is a great opportunity for the people of Brecon and Radnorshire, who voted to Leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum and confirmed that vote in the recent European Elections where they voted overwhelmingly for the Brexit Party to elect a Brexit Party MP and make history.”

The 2015 recall law provides that if a tenth of the voters in an MP’s constituency sign a petition of removal, that member is forced to stand down. In Davies’ case, almost double that number signed the petition which was handed to local government auditors for verification and counting this week.

The last use of the recall was in Peterborough, where Labour’s pro-Europe Fiona Onasanya was convicted of perverting the course of justice and subsequently removed. </s> LLANELWEDD, Wales, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Britain's pro-European Union Liberal Democrats won the parliamentary seat of Brecon and Radnorshire from the governing Conservatives on Friday, a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his first electoral test since taking office.

The loss reduces Johnson's working majority in parliament to just one ahead of an expected showdown with lawmakers in the autumn over his plan to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without an exit agreement if necessary.

Johnson's government already relies on the support of a small Northern Irish party for its wafer-thin majority, with just a handful of rebels in his own Conservatives needed to lose key votes.

"I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit and offer an alternative, positive vision ... We now have one more MP (Member of Parliament) who will vote against Brexit in parliament."

The Brecon vote was triggered when Conservative lawmaker Chris Davies was ousted by a petition of constituents after being convicted of falsifying expenses. Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds won with 13,826 votes.

Davies, who ran again for the Conservatives, came second with 12,401 votes. The Brexit Party came third with 3,331 votes, while the main opposition Labour Party was fourth on 1,680 votes.

The Liberal Democrats had previously held the seat from 1997 until 2015, when it was won by Davies. In the 2017 snap election he held the seat with a majority of just over 8,000 votes. </s> Britain’s pro-European Union Liberal Democrats won the parliamentary seat of Brecon and Radnorshire from the governing Conservatives on Friday, a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his first electoral test since taking office.

The loss reduces Johnson’s working majority in parliament to just one ahead of an expected showdown with lawmakers in the autumn over his plan to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without an exit agreement if necessary.

Johnson’s government already relies on the support of a small Northern Irish party for its wafer-thin majority, with just a handful of rebels in his own Conservatives needed to lose key votes.

The Liberal Democrats won the Welsh seat of Brecon and Radnorshire with a majority of 1,425 votes.

“Boris Johnson’s shrinking majority makes it clear that he has no mandate to crash us out of the EU,” Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, whose party now have 13 seats in parliament, said in a statement following the result early on Friday.

“I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit and offer an alternative, positive vision … We now have one more MP (Member of Parliament) who will vote against Brexit in parliament.”

Wales, and the Brecon area, voted to leave the EU at the 2016 Brexit referendum, but it is also a region where sheep outnumber people and where the prospect of steep EU tariffs being slapped on Welsh lamb exports in a no-deal Brexit have prompted widespread concern among farmers.

The Brecon vote was triggered when Conservative lawmaker Chris Davies was ousted by a petition of constituents after being convicted of falsifying expenses. Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds won with 13,826 votes.

Davies, who ran again for the Conservatives, came second with 12,401 votes. The Brexit Party came third with 3,331 votes, while the main opposition Labour Party was fourth on 1,680 votes.

The Liberal Democrats had previously held the seat from 1997 until 2015, when it was won by Davies. In the 2017 snap election he held the seat with a majority of just over 8,000 votes.

Johnson, who took office last week, has said he does not plan to hold an election before Britain leaves the EU but could be forced to if lawmakers try to stop him pursuing a no-deal exit by collapsing the government in a no confidence vote.

The result in Brecon, where the combined vote for pro-leave parties outnumbered pro-remain, would likely add to calls for a possible Conservative-Brexit Party alliance in any upcoming election.

Pro-EU parties, including the Greens and Plaid Cymru, agreed not to stand in the Brecon election on Thursday to boost the Liberal Democrats chances by concentrating the support of ‘Remain’ voters behind one candidate.

The Brexit Party, led by prominent Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, was only launched in April and rode a wave of anger over the government’s failure to deliver Brexit to sweep to victory in the United Kingdom’s European Parliament election in May.

“If the Brexit Party do hang around and the Conservative Party doesn’t deal with them effectively, ie. if we don’t show signs that we are leaving Europe by the end of October, then that could really have some repercussions for our vote not just in seats like this but across the UK,” Nick Ramsay, a Conservative member of the Welsh Assembly told Sky News. </s> Britain's new Prime-Minister Boris Johnson suffered the first serious blow to his leadership on Thursday when his ruling Conservative Party lost a seat in Wales, cutting its working majority in parliament to just one.

The seat in Brecon and Radnorshire was won by Jane Dodds, the candidate for the Liberal Democrats, who overturned a majority of more than 8,000 votes to beat Conservative Chris Davies.

The by-election was triggered when 19% of voters signed a recall petition after Davies was convicted over a false expenses claim.

READ MORE: Why is the Brecon by-election so important to Boris? | Euronews Answers

In her acceptance speech, Dodds said her "victory must be a turning point not just for our communities here in Brecon and Radnorshire but for the whole country too."

"My very first act as your MP when I arrive in Westminster will be to find Boris Johnson, wherever he's hiding and tell him loud and clear: stop playing with the future of our communities and rule out a no-deal Brexit now," she also said.

Davies came in second with the Brexit Party helmed by Nigel Farage securing the third place. The main opposition labour party, meanwhile, finished fourth.

'Beat Brexit once and for all'

Several smaller parties including Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the Independent Group for Change had decided not to field candidates in order not to split the Remain vote.

Adam Price, leader of Plaid Cymru, said on Twitter on Friday morning that "the single most important thing in this byelection was to put party politics aside, and deliver a pro-Remain MP" and called for People's Vote — or second referendum on Brexit.

"But if Boris Johnson is intent on a general election, he should know that Plaid Cymru and the other pro-Remain parties are committed to cooperating so that we can beat Brexit once and for all," he also wrote.

For Boris Johnson, who stormed to the Prime Ministership in a Conservative leadership contest last week, the election was a first electoral test and ultimately a blow.

Johnson has repeatedly pledged that the country will leave the European Union on October 31 "do or die" but the parliamentary arithmetic he faces is now worse than it was for his predecessor Theresa May.

The Conservative lost their overall majority in parliament in June 2017 snap elections and have had to rely on the Northern Irish ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party on a supply and demand basis.

The loss in Brecon and Radnorshire means he now has a working majority of just one but the Conservatives remain deeply split over Brexit. </s> LLANELWEDD — Britain’s pro-European Union Liberal Democrats won the parliamentary seat of Brecon and Radnorshire from the governing Conservatives on Friday, a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his first electoral test since taking office.

The loss reduces Johnson’s working majority in parliament to just one ahead of an expected showdown with lawmakers in the autumn over his plan to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without an exit agreement if necessary.

Johnson’s government already relies on the support of a small Northern Irish party for its wafer-thin majority, with just a handful of rebels in his own Conservatives needed to lose key votes.

“Boris Johnson’s shrinking majority makes it clear that he has no mandate to crash us out of the EU,” Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, whose party now have 13 seats in parliament, said in a statement following the result.

“I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit and offer an alternative, positive vision … We now have one more MP (Member of Parliament) who will vote against Brexit in parliament.”

The Brecon vote was triggered when Conservative lawmaker Chris Davies was ousted by a petition of constituents after being convicted of falsifying expenses. Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds won with 13,826 votes.

Davies, who ran again for the Conservatives, came second with 12,401 votes. The Brexit Party came third with 3,331 votes, while the main opposition Labour Party was fourth on 1,680 votes.

The Liberal Democrats had previously held the seat from 1997 until 2015, when it was won by Davies. In the 2017 snap election he held the seat with a majority of just over 8,000 votes. (Reporting by Rebecca Naden; Writing by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Sandra Maler) </s> Llanelwedd, Wales: Britain's pro-European Union Liberal Democrats have won the parliamentary seat of Brecon and Radnorshire in a byelection from the governing Conservatives on Friday, a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his first electoral test since taking office.

The result reduces the new British leader's working majority in the House of Commons to one.

The vote was triggered when Conservative lawmaker Chris Davies was ousted by a petition of constituents after being convicted of falsifying expenses. Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds won with 13,826 votes.

Davies ran again for the Conservatives and came second with 12,401 votes. </s> A Tory MP convicted over fake expense claims has been unseated by a petition triggering a by-election.

Chris Davies politician was ousted after nearly a fifth of registered voters in his Brecon and Radnorshire constituency signed a petition to oust him.

The 51-year-old was convicted for faking expenses claims after submitting two false expenses invoices for landscape photographs to decorate his new office.

Some 10,005 signatures were secured, well above the 10% threshold - 5,303 - needed for a recall.

He has been MP for the Welsh seat since the 2015 general election, where he beat incumbent Liberal Democrat Roger Williams with the constituency's largest majority since 1983.

In 2017, he held a majority of more than 8,000 in a constituency where just over 41,000 people voted.

But in April he was fined £1,500, ordered to pay £2,500 towards legal costs and told to carry out 50 hours of community service after admitting submitting two false expenses invoices.

The recall petition opened on 9 May and Mr Davies's constituents had six weeks to sign it before it closed on 20 June.

A spokesman for Welsh Labour said: "The recall result is another huge blow to Chris Davies' credibility to serve as member of parliament. This is a mess all of his making.

"The Conservatives must not drag their feet. They should listen to the wishes of the voters of Brecon and Radnorshire, call an immediate by-election and let the people hold them to account."

The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds, who will stand for the party in the by-election, said: "Thousands of residents across Brecon and Radnorshire have taken the chance to demand better than a Westminster politics that fails to take their concerns seriously.

"Now we have a golden opportunity to do things differently. The clear choice in this by-election is between the Conservatives, whose chaos and infighting is letting our communities down, and a better future for our area with the Welsh Lib Dems." </s> LLANELWEDD, WALES - Britain’s pro-European Union Liberal Democrats have won a parliamentary seat from the governing Conservatives, a blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his first electoral test since taking office.

The loss reduces Johnson’s working majority in parliament to one ahead of an expected showdown with lawmakers over his plan to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without an exit agreement if necessary.

Johnson’s government already relies on the support of a small Northern Irish party for its wafer-thin majority, with just a handful of rebels in his own Conservatives needed to lose key votes.

The Liberal Democrats won the Welsh seat of Brecon and Radnorshire with a majority of 1,425 votes.

“Boris Johnson’s shrinking majority makes it clear that he has no mandate to crash us out of the EU,” Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, whose party now have 13 seats in parliament, said in a statement following the result early Friday.

“I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit and offer an alternative, positive vision. ... We now have one more MP (Member of Parliament) who will vote against Brexit in parliament,” Swinson added.

Wales, and the Brecon area, voted to leave the EU at the 2016 Brexit referendum, but it is also a region where sheep outnumber people and where the prospect of steep EU tariffs being slapped on Welsh lamb exports in a no-deal Brexit have prompted widespread concern among farmers.

The Brecon vote was triggered when Conservative lawmaker Chris Davies was ousted by a petition of constituents after being convicted of falsifying expenses. Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds won with 13,826 votes.

Davies, who ran again for the Conservatives, came second with 12,401 votes. The Brexit Party came third with 3,331 votes, while the main opposition Labour Party was fourth on 1,680 votes.

The Liberal Democrats had previously held the seat from 1997 until 2015, when it was won by Davies. In the 2017 snap election he held the seat with a majority of just more than 8,000 votes.

Johnson, who took office last week, has said he does not plan to hold an election before Britain leaves the EU but could be forced to if lawmakers try to stop him pursuing a no-deal exit by collapsing the government in a no confidence vote.

The result in Brecon, where the combined vote for pro-leave parties outnumbered pro-remain, would likely add to calls for a possible Conservative-Brexit Party alliance in any upcoming election. </s> Image copyright Conservative Party Image caption Chris Davies was first elected in 2015

A by-election will be held in Brecon and Radnorshire after 10,005 people signed a petition to remove the constituency's Tory MP, Chris Davies.

Mr Davies was convicted of a false expenses claim in March.

A total of 19% of the constituency's electorate signed the petition, almost double the 10% threshold to trigger a by-election.

Confirming his intention to stand again, Mr Davies said he "looked forward to regaining" voters' trust.

"I am naturally disappointed with the result," he said.

"What happened was my fault and no-one else's."

Mr Davies is the third MP to have faced a recall petition and the second to be unseated through the process.

Members of the local Brecon and Radnorshire Conservative association are expected to meet during the next week to discuss whether Mr Davies will be their candidate.

Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt said: "Whatever the rights and wrongs of his expenses claim, I have only ever known Chris Davies as a decent and honest man and a very diligent local MP."

The recall petition was triggered after Mr Davies's conviction for an offence relating to how photographs for his constituency office were invoiced.

Image caption The result was posted on a noticeboard in the constituency on Friday

Mr Davies had tried to split the cost of £700 worth of pictures between two office budgets by creating fake invoices, when he could have claimed the amount by other means.

He was fined £1,500 in April and told to carry out 50 hours of community service.

"I sincerely apologise to all the people of Brecon and Radnorshire - and now it is absolutely right that they have their say," Mr Davies said.

He told BBC Wales he had "no indication" the party would stop him from standing and claimed the two Tory leadership candidates, who he spoke to on the phone on Friday, had been "very supportive" of him.

Asked if there was any question in their minds as to whether he should represent the party at the by-election, Mr Davies said: "None at all."

Mr Davies has been MP for Brecon and Radnorshire since the 2015 general election, when he beat incumbent Liberal Democrat Roger Williams with a majority of 5,102.

In the 2017 snap election Chris Davies's majority rose to 8,038.

The Liberal Democrats and Labour have already selected candidates for the by-election, while the Brexit Party will also be taking part.

Liberal Democrat prospective candidate for Brecon and Radnorshire, and the party's Welsh leader, Jane Dodds said: "Thousands of residents across Brecon and Radnorshire have taken the chance to demand better than a Westminster politics that fails to take their concerns seriously."

A spokesman for Welsh Labour, which has selected Brecon town councillor Tom Davies, said: "The recall result is another huge blow to Chris Davies' credibility to serve as member of Parliament. This is a mess all of his making."

He said the Tories "must not drag their feet" and call "an immediate by-election".

Brecon and Radnorshire is within the county of Powys, where the Brexit Party came top in May's European Parliament elections.

The Brexit Party's chairman Richard Tice said: "The sheer scale of the vote to force a recall and a by-election shows how strongly the level of dissatisfaction with politics in the country is rising up the agenda."

Recall petitions are launched when MPs receive a custodial or suspended sentence, are barred from the Commons for 10 sitting days or are convicted of providing false information about their expenses.

What happens next?

It will be for the Conservatives to kick-start the next stage of the process - known as "moving the writ" - by making a request to the House of Commons Speaker. This usually happens within three months of a vacancy arising.

Once MPs have agreed the writ is issued to the constituency's returning officer.

The by-election is then held within 21 to 27 days from the issuing of the writ.

It means a new Conservative PM is likely to be in place shortly before the by-election.

Image caption The Brecon and Radnorshire constituency includes Builth Wells

Welsh politics expert Roger Scully said that the fact that nearly 20% of the constituency had signed the petition meant it was "very unlikely" Mr Davies would be the Conservative candidate.

"He would be standing clearly in the face of considerable public hostility in his own constituency," the Cardiff University professor said.

"If they put resources into it it should be a very winnable by-election for the Liberal Democrats and perhaps their first real bit of good news in Wales for some years."

It is unclear if Plaid Cymru will be fielding a candidate, and a spokesman on Friday suggested it may be open to a pact with other parties in favour of a further EU referendum.

"In last month's European elections many voters broke the habit of a lifetime by choosing to back pro-People's Vote parties, rather than the Conservatives or Labour," the spokesman said.

"Ensuring those of us who want to see a fresh referendum work together, at every possible level, to deliver this aim is crucial. We will explore options for how we can work together, across party lines, to deliver this in the upcoming Brecon and Radnorshire by-election."

The current state of parties in Parliament Number of MPs with each group in the House of Commons

Analysis by Felicity Evans, BBC Wales political editor

This is a big deal, with implications way beyond the constituency boundaries of Brecon and Radnorshire.

When the Conservative Party elects our new prime minister at the end of July, we know he will face the same arithmetic Theresa May did when she tried to steer a Brexit course through the House of Commons - no majority and very little wiggle room.

The victor will not want his honeymoon bubble punctured immediately by a difficult by-election and possible defeat.

Traditionally this is fertile ground for the Liberal Democrats. Jane Dodds will want to prove her party's resurgence in recent elections can continue here.

But off the back of their strong showing in the European Parliament elections, will the Brexit Party be able to push through, having failed to do so in the Peterborough by-election?

And, after Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price's musing on possible electoral pacts with other anti-Brexit parties, will he offer a deal to try to maximise the chances of a pro-referendum MP getting elected?

The Conservative Party now faces a tricky strategic decision over candidate selection, before heading into an even more tricky by-election campaign.
The Liberal Democrats gain the Brecon and Radnorshire seat from the Conservatives. This marks the first time a seat has changed hands in a by-election triggered by a successful recall petition. The working majority of the Conservative government is reduced to one.