Embarrassing defeat, UK PM Johnson's party loses out at election

FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes questions in Parliament, in London, Britain June 16, 2021. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered an embarrassing defeat in a election on the outskirts of London on Friday, when his governing Conservative Party lost a previously safe parliamentary seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives had comfortably held the leafy, affluent Chesham and Amersham constituency in southern England since its creation in 1974, capturing more than 50% of the vote on every occasion. At the last poll in 2019, Conservative Cheryl Gillan, who died this year, won by a majority of 16,223 votes.