UK’s Johnson faces test in 2 special parliamentary elections

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Polls are open for two special elections in England that could deliver a new blow to scandal-tainted Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Wakefield in northern England and the southwestern constituency of Tiverton and Honiton are both electing replacements for Conservative lawmakers who resigned in disgrace over sexual misconduct. Defeat in either district on Thursday would be a setback for the prime minister’s party. Losing both would increase jitters among restive Conservatives who already worry the ebullient but erratic Johnson is no longer an electoral asset. Polls suggest the Labour Party will win in Wakefield, while the Tiverton race is neck-and-neck between the Conservatives and the centrist Liberal Democrats.