LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Liberal Democrats party predicted on Friday they had won a parliamentary seat from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives at an election.
“We’re not just going to win here tonight, we’re going to win comfortably,” Liberal Democrat lawmaker Christine Jardine told Sky News while votes were still being counted.
If confirmed, the result would overturn a large Conservative majority in the North Shropshire constituency in England, and be interpreted as a voter backlash against a British leader beset by crises and scandal.
Parties compile their own data on how votes have been cast, but it is unusual to publicly claim victory before the count has been completed. The official result is due to be declared later on Friday morning.
The vote, which determines one of 650 seats in Britain’s parliament, was called outside of the regular election cycle because the incumbent Conservative resigned after he was found to have broken rules on paid lobbying.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Stephen Coates)
