Boris Johnson aims at Jo Cox seat after by-election defeat

Prime minister tries to galvanise support before the Batley and Spen by-election after loss of Chesham and Amersham seat

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson assists in an engine repair at an automotive shop during a visit to Kirklees College Springfield Sixth Form Centre in Dewsbury, northern England. AFP

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has headed to northern England to make a play for the former seat of murdered politician Jo Cox fresh from his party's defeat in the south of the country.

On Friday, Mr Johnson arrived at Wakefield train station, in the northern English county of West Yorkshire in a bid to swiftly bounce back after his party lost their seat to the Liberal Democrats in the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

He is hoping to negate the legacy of Jo Cox in the Batley and Spen by-election next month and take another traditional "red wall" seat from the Labour Party.

It comes as the loss of his party's "blue wall" seat in the wealthy south of England was heralded by the opposition as a sign that the Conservatives are losing their grip in their traditional heartlands.

Speaking in Kirklees, Mr Johnson said losing the Chesham and Amersham by-election was "disappointing" but he vowed to continue his campaign to level up the country.

"It was certainly a disappointing result," he said.

"There were particular circumstances there and we are getting on with delivering our agenda for the whole country.

"We believe in uniting and levelling up with the regions across the country. We are a great one-nation party. We will continue to level up and deliver jobs and prosperity across the whole country."

He has visited a college in Kirklees to try to galvanise support in the area.

His visit comes two days after the fifth anniversary of Jo Cox's death.

She was murdered by a far-right extremist in 2016 while visiting her constituency office in the town of Birstall.

Her sister, Kim Leadbeater, is standing as the Labour Party candidate and is hosting a number events this weekend for the Great Get Together campaign in memory of her sister.

Dr Paul Stott, a research fellow at the Centre for the Response to Radicalisation and Terrorism at the Henry Jackson Society, told The National that Mr Johnson's visit shows that the Conservatives believe they have a real chance of winning the Batley and Spen by-election.

“The Conservative Party do not send their leader to an area unless they have a good chance of winning it,” he said.

“If Boris turns up in Batley, it will be a good indication of what they think their election chances are. If he doesn’t go, it shows they expect to lose.”

Labour won the Batley and Spen seat in 2019 with a slim majority of 3,525.

A by-election was called after its MP, Tracy Brabin, was appointed as mayor for West Yorkshire.

The Batley and Spen by-election, scheduled for July 1, is expected to be a close campaign.

The seat has been held by Labour for decades, but the party has recently suffered a series of defeats to Mr Johnson's Conservative Party in traditional Labour strongholds.

The party lost a by-election in the northern English city of Hartlepool in May and defeat in Batley and Spen would be another major blow for leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Other candidates include former Labour MP George Galloway, and a number of far-right groups are also standing.

In Chesham and Amersham the Liberal Democrats were the surprise winners.

Former Conservative politician David Gauke believes it was a "protest" vote.

"There is a bigger process going on where educated, middle-class moderates who voted Remain feel less attracted to the Conservative Party than they once did and there is a vulnerability to that Conservative vote," he told Radio Four's World at One.

"I think it was largely a protest vote and demonstrates a really big opportunity for the Liberal Democrats."