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Tories sweep to crushing victory in Crewe
David Cameron's Conservatives today won a spectacular victory in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, seizing the formerly safe Labour seat by a margin of almost 8,000 votes.
The result, overturning the 7,000 majority achieved by the late Gwyneth Dunwoody in the 2005 general election, is another savage blow for Prime Minister Gordon Brown after Labour's drubbing at the May 1 local elections.
It is the first Conservative gain in a by-election since 1983 and the double-figure swing to Tories would deliver Mr Cameron a large majority in the House of Commons if repeated in a general election.
The new Conservative MP Edward Timpson said that the voters of Crewe and Nantwich had "sent a message loud and clear: Gordon just doesn't get it and the Government needs to change".
Mr Timpson identified Mr Brown's decision to scrap the 10p starting rate of income tax as one of the key factors which drove former Labour voters into the arms of the Tories.
He acknowledged that many of the 20,539 people who backed him had never voted Conservative before and promised them: "I am on your side and I won't let you down."
Labour candidate Tamsin Dunwoody paid tribute to her mother, saying she had been "completely and utterly dedicated" to the area which she had served as MP since 1974.
Ms Dunwoody, who polled 12,679, said that Crewe and Nantwich had been a difficult mid-term contest. And she said her mother had taught her: "The Labour Party in adversity and in the good times, holds strong and stays united... We will continue to fight."
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