Boris Johnson faces two by-elections on the same day next month

(Photo: Pool via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson faces two tough by-elections on the same day this summer in a major test of his leadership.

Voters will soon elect new MPs for Wakefield in Yorkshire and Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

The likely date for both, as first reported by The Times, is June 23, the sixth anniversary of the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union.

Both seats are currently held by the Tories, but the party risks losing Wakefield to Labor and Tiverton to the Lib Dems amid a rising cost of living crisis.

The Wakefield contest was sparked after Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was convicted of sexually assaulting a boy.

The Conservatives won seat 3,358 in 2019, until then it had been held by Labor since 1932.

Winning an MP seat in the so-called red wall would be a huge boost for Keir Starmer ahead of the next general election.

In Tiverton, a by-election was called after Tory MP Neil Parish resigned over revelations that he viewed porn on his phone in the House of Commons.

The parish won the seat in 2019 with a healthy majority of 24,239 over Labour, having been Conservative since its creation in 1997.

But while Labor is currently in second place, the constituency has for many years been a close battle between the Tories and the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dems, boosted by capturing neighboring Somerset council in local elections earlier this month, are hoping for a revival in their former South West heartland.

The party is aiming to repeat its success in the recent North Shropshire by-election, where it overturned a 23,000 Tory majority held by Owen Paterson MP.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

In connection with…