British leader Boris Johnson undergoes first blow in by-election

Boris Johnson came to the area on Tuesday to help Chris Davies, a Conservative MP who was forced to resign after being involved in an extension scandal.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost his first test as prime minister on Friday after his candidate was rejected by a pro-European rival in a by-election that reduced his parliamentary majority to one.

Thursday's vote in the Welsh sheep-farming communities of Brecon and Radnorshire offered a tough choice between a conservative Johnson party candidate supporting Brexit and a Liberal Democrat who wants to preserve Britain's stay in the EU for four decades.

Johnson came to the area on Tuesday to help Chris Davies, a Conservative MP who was forced to resign after being involved in an extension scandal.

Davies protested his innocence and again contested the seat, but Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds won 13,826 votes to 12,401 for Davies, after two smaller parties, supporters of the EU, backed her.

The result prolongs the recent revival of Liberal Democrats at the expense of the main parties.

His firm stance on the British split between the European Union was surprised by the eurosceptic populist party of the Nigerian Brexit party Farage in the European Parliament elections in May.

Farage's candidate took advantage of the Conservatives ' support with 3,331 votes. The main opposition Labour Party-formerly a dominant force in Wales-ranked fourth, with only 1,680 people.

"My very first act as a member of Parliament on my arrival in Westminster will be to find Boris Johnson wherever he is hiding and tell him loud and clear: stop playing games with the future of our communities and exclude Brexit," said visibly relieved. Says Dodds.

Strength Test

The elections were seen as a test of strength for the "Boris rebound" that helped the Conservatives regain a slim lead in some national opinion polls.

The control of Brecon and Radnorshire has oscillated between liberal Democrats and conservatives since the 1990s. It voted 52% to leave the European Union in the 2016 vote, as it did in the UK.

But the controversies surrounding Davies made it an unusual contest whose outcome might not reflect the true support of Johnson or Brexit.

The defeat still puts Johnson at risk of being unable to control the parliament in the crucial race for Britain's scheduled departure from the EU on October 31.

MEPs are already looking for ways to counter her threat to get Britain out before the two-time deadline without the divorce agreement.

Johnson must also be able to pass legislation to ensure that the potentially chaotic outcome of the 'no deal' is as fluid as possible-and to pass any compromise he might suddenly strike with Brussels.

The 650-seat chamber was fractured and included MPs who sometimes switched sides or abstained at crucial moments.

This left Johnson dependent on the whims of a few legislators at one of the most crucial moments in British history since the Second World War.

Fears of a dead-end divorce have already pushed the book to its lowest level since the British first voted in June 2016.

The Bank of England warned on Thursday that a complicated fracture would lead to a further fall in the pound sterling and a slowdown in growth this year, close to 1.3% compared to about 1.5%.

Brexit PR Blitz

The decline in the pound reflects the more general fears of British companies and its main trading partners in Europe.

The Johnson government is trying to strengthen its negotiating power with Brussels by showing that the country is ready for any outcome.

Finance minister Sajid Javid today announced an additional £ 2.1 billion ($2.6 billion) to prepare for his departure without an agreement.

Politico has announced that part of this money will be spent on a Europe-wide media blitz including advertisements in the main continental newspapers aimed at convincing EU governments of the strength of solving the non-transaction problem in Britain.

Some analysts asked how much of the funding was new and whether it would actually be used within the remaining 90 days before Brexit.

"We have to be prepared because we will be leaving on October 31," said Javid on Thursday.

John McDonnell, the Chief Financial Officer for the Labour Party, called the funding "a terrible waste of taxpayers' money."
The Labour member who leads the oversight of Parliament's spending has also committed to investigating how the money was spent.