Conservatives win Crewe and Nantwich by-election

Friday, May 23, 2008

According to a *Daily Politics* poll, 46% of people think David Cameron would be the best Prime Minister

The Conservative Party's Edward Timpson has won the Crewe and Nantwich by-election in the United Kingdom with a majority of 7,860 votes. This is the party's first by-election victory in 26 years and party leader David Cameron visited the constituency earlier.

Labour Party candidate Tamsin Dunwoody said that the 17.6% swing was a "mid-term blip" and that the people of Crewe and Nantwich will be "watching" Mr. Timpson. However David Cameron proclaimed the result "the end of New Labour" calling the Conservatives' overturning of the 7,000 Labour majority "the start of something different and something bigger".

He criticised the Labour Party's campaign in Crewe and Nantwich, which had described the Conservative candidate as a "toff", as "negative", "xenophobic" and "class war" but said he realises the differences between by-election and general election results. The newly elected Mr. Timpson said in his victory speech that "I am going to stand up for local families, local jobs and, whenever I need to, stand up to the Government on your behalf."

Miss Dunwoody is confident of Gordon Brown's leadership, telling reporters earlier that "we know the Prime Minister can lead us through this." Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman also defended Mr. Brown's position, saying that "the overwhelming majority of people in the Labour Party... are fully behind Gordon Brown."

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, defended his party's third-place result as "really rather robust" and said the people's votes were anti-Labour, not pro-Conservative. The UK Independence Party are pleased with the result, claiming that it confirms the party's position as "the fourth political force in the country" and their candidate Mike Nattrass said "this has been a stepping stone for the European elections next year."

Result

Crewe and Nantwich by-election, 2008
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Conservatives	Edward Timpson	20,539	49.5	+16.9
Labour	Tamsin Dunwoody	12,679	30.6	–18.2
Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Shenton	6,040	14.6	–4.0
UKIP	Mike Nattrass	922	2.2	n/a
Green Party	Robert Smith	359	0.9	n/a
English Democrats	David Roberts	275	0.7	n/a
Monster Raving Loony	The Flying Brick	236	0.6	n/a
Independent	Mark Walklate	217	0.5	n/a
Cut Tax on Diesel and Petrol	Paul Thorogood	118	0.3	n/a
Independent	Gemma Garrett	113	0.3	n/a
Majority		7,860	18.9	+3.6
Turnout		41,856	58.2	–1.8
Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	17.6%

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Related news

"Parties make final bids for Crewe and Nantwich voters" — Wikinews, May 21, 2008

Sources

"UKIP fourth in Crewe by-election" — UKIP, May 23, 2008
"Cameron hails 'end of New Labour'" — BBC News Online, May 23, 2008
"Lib Dems defend election showing" — BBC News Online, May 23, 2008
"By-Election Special - Dunwoody says loss is a 'mid-term blip'" — Crewe Guardian, May 23, 2008
"Crushing Crewe by-election defeat for Labour" — The Mirror, May 23, 2008

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