By-election blow for Cameron

Independent

20 July 2007

Labour turned the heat up on David Cameron today after the Tories failed to achieve a breakthrough in the first parliamentary by-elections since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister.

Mr Brown's party held on to Ealing Southall and Tony Blair's old seat in Sedgefield with reduced majorities.

The results fuelled speculation that the new Prime Minister might take a chance and call an early general election.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who saw his party take second place in both seats, was also taking heart from the outcome.

Lib Dem candidate Greg Stone almost doubled his party's share of the vote to overtake the Conservatives in Sedgefield, while in Ealing Southall Tories also trailed in third in a seat which Mr Cameron visited five times during the campaign.

The results were a blow for Mr Cameron, who was hoping to restore momentum to his challenge for power after being knocked off course by rows over grammar schools and Labour's "Brown bounce" in the polls.

The Tories fought particularly hard in Ealing Southall, where their candidate Tony Lit was listed on the ballot paper as standing for " David Cameron's Conservatives".

But they suffered a setback when it emerged that Mr Lit had donated money to Labour and been photographed with Tony Blair just days before his selection.

Victorious Labour candidate Virendra Sharma made a pointed attack on the high-profile Tory campaign, saying "it is policies that win elections, not slick PR".

Mr Sharma, who polled 15,188 in Ealing Southall, said: "This is a great result for our new Prime Minister Gordon Brown and it is a humiliating rebuke from Britain's most diverse constituency to David Cameron's Conservatives."

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said she was "delighted" by both results, which had put "a new spring in the step of Labour supporters and Labour Party members".

Liberal Democrat Nigel Bakhai won the fiercely-fought battle for second place in Ealing Southall with 10,118 votes, increasing his share of the vote by just over 3%. Mr Lit increased his share by less than 1%, taking 8,230 votes.

Mr Lit said: "This is a positive result for the Conservative Party. Yes, we haven't won it but we have moved in the right direction."

But Mr Bakhai said: "The real disappointment in this by-election is for David Cameron. He put his name on the ballot paper and he came third."

Sir Menzies described the results as "a blow to Brown and a disaster for David Cameron".

Labour's former chief whip Hilary Armstrong said the Sedgefield result showed that "the public have given their endorsement to Gordon Brown's Government".

But victorious candidate Phil Wilson's 45% share of the vote was 14% down on Mr Blair's haul in the 2005 General Election.

Most of the benefit from the swing away from Labour was felt by the Lib Dems and the British National Party, which held onto its deposit with almost 9% of the vote.

Accepting his victory in Sedgefield, Mr Wilson said he was "honoured and deeply humbled" to be elected to the seat where he grew up.

"We have won our victory here tonight because of the success of New Labour under Tony Blair and our renewal with Gordon Brown," he said. " This election has been a disaster for David Cameron. People know he just can't be trusted when it comes to the big issues."

Mr Stone, who took 5,572 votes behind Mr Wilson's 12,528, said: "This has been a fantastic result for the Liberal Democrats. Yet again we have shown we are the only alternative to Labour in the North."

But Tory candidate Graham Robb, who came third with 4,082 but marginally improved his party's share of the vote, rejected the claim.

"It is a good result for us, because we can prove we are still in business in the North-East and as we regenerate our party, we will be back in business even more," he said.

Tory party chairman Caroline Spelman said the party "would like to have done better" in both seats but defended Mr Cameron's leadership.

"We made progress in Ealing Southall and reached in to communities we found it difficult to reach in to," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We have to build from the grass roots up and I think the important thing David Cameron has given us is, his commitment to localism has brought us in to the position of being the largest party of local government."