GREEN MP Caroline Lucas has repeated calls for the Prime Minister to resign after the Conservatives suffered an “utter humiliation” in two by-elections.

Labour won back the constituency of Wakefield, which was won by the Tories in 2019, while the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 majority to win in the Devon seat of Tiverton and Honiton with a 30 per cent swing.

Conservative chairman Oliver Dowden announced his resignation shortly after the results were announced and said that the party “cannot carry on with business as usual”.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to “keep going” and to “listen” to voters after the double by-election defeat.

Reacting to the results, Ms Lucas - the MP for Brighton Pavilion, said the Prime Minister’s promise to keep going “means sinking his own party, and this country, to even lower depths”.

She described the Tory losses as an “utter humiliation, compounded by the scathing resignation of a top Cabinet minister”.

Hove MP and shadow secretary for Northern Ireland Peter Kyle was among those to campaign for Labour in Wakefield this week.

In a post on Twitter, he said: “Anyone hoping for humility or even acknowledgement of what just happened will probably have to wait for the next general election.”

Prime Minister Johnson told broadcasters that he takes responsibility for the defeats, but said that it is “true that, mid-term, governments post-war lose by-elections”.

He said: “It’s absolutely true we’ve had some tough by-election results. They’ve been, I think, a reflection of a lot of things, but we’ve got to recognise voters are going through a tough time at the moment.

“I think as a government I’ve got to listen to what people are saying – in particular to the difficulties people are facing over the cost of living, which I think for most people is the number one issue.

“We’ve got to recognise there is more we’ve got to do and we certainly will; we will keep going, addressing the concerns of people until we get through this patch.”