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Boris Johnson’s majority cut to one after Liberal Democrats win Brecon and Radnorshire by-election

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Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds (C) celebrates with Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey (2ndL) and her team after winning the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election at the Royal Welsh Showground on August 2, 2019 in Builth Wells, Wales. - Britain's Boris Johnson lost his first major test as prime minister on August 2 when his candidate lost to a pro-EU rival in a by-election that could narrow his parliamentary majority to one. Official results showed the European-supporting Liberal Democrats' candidate Jane Dodds defeating Chris Davies from Johnson's ruling Conservative party by 13,826 to 12,401 votes. (Photo by Isabel INFANTES / AFP) / The erroneous mention appearing in the metadata of this photo by Isabel INFANTES has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Jane Dodds] instead of [Jane Dodd]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention from all your online services and delete it from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo credit should read ISABEL INFANTES/AFP/Getty Images)

The Liberal Democrats have won the seat of Brecon and Radnorshire from the Tories in a by-election, leaving Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government with a majority of one.

Lib Dem candidate Jane Dodds beat incumbent Conservative Chris Davies by 1,425 votes, overturning a majority of 8,038.

Read more: Boris Johnson at odds with Leo Varadkar over Irish backstop

Davies stood again, despite the election being called after he was recalled by a petition after being convicted of claiming false expenses.

The defeat is a blow to Johnson’s new administration, reducing its majority to just one ahead of an expected parliamentary clash over whether the UK should leave the UK on 31 October.

The pro-European Liberal Democrats said they would oppose Johnson’s promise to leave the EU by that date with or without a deal.

“Boris Johnson’s shrinking majority makes it clear that he has no mandate to crash us out of the EU,” Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, whose party now have 13 seats in parliament, said following the result early on Friday.

“I will do whatever it takes to stop Brexit and offer an alternative, positive vision … We now have one more MP (Member of Parliament) who will vote against Brexit in parliament.”

Johnson’s Conservative government already relies on a confidence-and-supply agreement with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to pass legislation in parliament.

Labour’s share of the vote also fell 12.4 per cent in a dramatic set of election results.

The vote for the Lib Dems is also significant for the party’s firm anti-Brexit stance. The constituency returned a Leave vote with a 51.9 per cent majority in the 2016 EU referendum.

Read more: Boris Johnson repeats pledge to leave EU on 31 October

The Brexit Party came third with 3,331 votes. Had those votes gone to Brexit-supporting incumbent Davies it would have been enough to get him over the line.

The Green Party and Plaid Cymru agreed not to field candidates for the election to avoid splitting the Remain-supporting vote.