TWO Cumbrian MP's have reacted to defeats this week- saying that they 'are not suprised' that the Conservative Party lost seats in the by-elections.

The party lost the Devon seat of Tiverton and Honiton to the Lib Dems, and Wakefield to Labour.

The defeats have lead to the resignation of Conservative Party chairman- and by some been blamed on the leadership of Boris Johnson.

In Tiverton and Honiton the Lib Dems won with a 30% swing, whlilst in Wakefield the Labour party secured a 12.7% swing to regain the seat.

However, Copeland MP Trudy Harrison and Workington MP Mark Jenkinson, have said that 'it is not unusual' for incumbent parties to lose by-elections.

Copeland MP, Trudy Harrison said: "It’s not at all unusual for the Governing Party to lose a by-election, actually quite unusual for the Governing Party to win, mid-term, like we did in Copeland.  Of the 46 Parliamentary by-elections since 2010, just 7 have been won by Conservative candidates including myself.  

"That said, it’s clearly vital to get on with our agenda ever more swiftly and win back confidence - which is exactly what I’m focussed on doing."

Workington MP Mark Jenkinson believes the wins are largely down to Conservative voters 'staying at home' and says he does not fear losing the Workington seat at the next election.

He said: "With everything that has been going on in the last few years we seem to have got where governments could win and were measured against by-election wins, when in fact long standing tradition is that governing parties didn't win by-elections...so I think we have got to be careful not to take them out of context.

"I dont think anyone, any of the three main parties can try to spin it as a good night, we have without doubt saw conservative voters staying at home but not switching in sgnificant numbers.

"Our job now in the next two years is to make sure that we get back to our core messaged and delivering the promises that we made of which we are saying significant progress against in the Workington constituency."

When asked if he saw the vote as a messaged to Boris Johnson, Mr Jenkinson said: "No not at all."

He said he was 'sad to see' Mr Dowden resign from the chairmanship, but he was 'absolutely' still confident that he could retain the Workington seat in the next election.