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Boris Johnson says he expects people will "beat me up" after two by-election defeats - but insisted he was not worried about Conservative MPs plotting to replace him while he is abroad.

The prime minister was speaking at a news conference in Rwanda hours after the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Tory majority to win the Devon seat of Tiverton and Honiton, while Labour took back the red wall constituency of Wakefield in Yorkshire.

Mr Johnson told reporters in Kigali: "I'm not going to pretend these are brilliant results."

"We've got to listen, we've got to learn," he said, adding: "When people are finding it tough, they send messages to politicians and politicians have got to respond - and that's what we're doing."

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Asked if he was worried about Conservative colleagues plotting to replace him while he was abroad, the PM bluntly replied: "The answer to the question is no."

But he dodged a question about whether he had considered resigning at any point today.

"If governments crumpled because of by-election results in the whole of the post-war period, we wouldn't have had many post-war governments," he added.

When Sky's Beth Rigby asked why he would not "acknowledge you could be part of the problem with voters", the PM said: "I genuinely, genuinely don't think the way forward in British politics is to focus on the issues of personalities, whether they are mine or others."

He said people "will continue to beat me up and say this or that about to attack me", adding: "That's fine. That's quite right. That is the job of politicians.

"In the end, voters, journalists, they have no one else to make their complaints to. I have to take that."

Tory MPs will be asking if Boris Johnson is a busted flush - read Beth Rigby's analysis

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Mr Johnson warned the public that "no doubt there will some tough times ahead" but claimed his government understands "how to fix our economic issues".

The Tory party's poor by-election performances overnight led to the resignation of Conservative Chairman Oliver Dowden, who told the PM: "We cannot carry on with business as usual."

The Times reported that opponents of Mr Johnson are planning a takeover of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers in a bid to change the rules to allow another confidence vote in Mr Johnson's leadership.

Some 324 Tories were elected in 2019 with smaller majorities than the one secured by Neil Parish in Tiverton and Honiton constituency. His resignation over viewing pornography in parliament triggered the by-election there.

Conservative Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who retained his Cotswolds seat with a majority of 20,000 at the last vote, raised concerns they could lose their jobs at the next general election.

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard has urged Mr Johnson to resign for the good of their party and the nation, as he urged the cabinet to consider resigning to force him out.

Veteran Tory MP and long-standing critic of Mr Johnson, Sir Roger Gale, said the prime minister had "trashed" the party's reputation.

Read more:
Oliver Dowden has jumped - but will others follow?
Ex-Tory MP whose porn scandal sparked by-election says PM 'living in parallel universe'

However, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries defended the prime minister, calling the results a "reminder that we must be relentless in cracking on with the job of delivering".

She also claimed by-elections were "useless… as an indication of absolutely anything at all", adding the government would "remain relentlessly focused" on delivering for the public.

Labour's shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said there was "a lot of distaste" for the PM on the doorstep when Labour were campaigning in Wakefield.

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She told Sky News that voters were "genuinely feeling that this is a government that simply isn't working".

However, she said the "storming result" for her party was not just "people turning away from the Tories", but constituents "looking towards Labour again", and its leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the Conservatives "need to listen" to its voters, especially those who stayed at home, adding: "We need to give them reasons to come back at the next election. We do that with a laser-like focus on delivery."

But he felt short of explicitly backing Mr Johnson, adding: "The voters will judge this Conservative government on what we deliver next. For me, it's a focus on skills, schools and families."