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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4699862.stm

Quote:
Lib Dems celebrate bombshell win

Willie Rennie and Catherine Stihler

Winner's speech
The Liberal Democrats have delivered a blow to the government by winning the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election.

The party secured an 1,800 majority on a 16.24% swing, overturning an 11,500 Labour majority at the last election.

The winner, Willie Rennie, said the result would "rock the foundations" of Downing Street, but ministers said it was due to "local issues".

The seat, which neighbours Gordon Brown's, was made vacant following the death of MP Rachel Squire in January.

'Powerful message'

The chancellor, who lives in Dunfermline and West Fife himself, had been active in the by-election campaign.

Mr Rennie, the former Liberal Democrat Scottish chief executive, secured 12,391 of the votes.


BY-ELECTION RESULT
Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) 12,391
Catherine Stihler (Lab) 10,591
Douglas Chapman (SNP) 7,261
Carrie Ruxton (Cons) 2,702
John McAllion (SSP) 537
James Hargreaves (SCP) 411
Thomas Minogue (AFBTP) 374
Ian Borland (UKIP) 208
Dick Rodgers (CG) 103

More candidate details

Labour's Catherine Stihler received 10,591; the SNP's Douglas Chapman was third with 7,261 votes; and Conservative Carrie Ruxton secured 2,702 votes.

The by-election turnout was 34,578 voters - or 48.69% of the electorate - down by 11.21% on the General Election.

Mr Rennie said voters had "sent a powerful message to the Labour government that will rock the foundations of Downing Street, Number 10 and Number 11".

Dunfermline count
Turnout was down on the general election last year

"Labour has taken the people up and down the country for granted for far too long, too much spin and not enough delivery - it is time that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both got that message," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: "Of course we're disappointed at the by-election result, we always want to win!

"We should have won up there but we did our best, we put our case and we'll get on with now delivering the programme that we promised at the election."

Mr Prescott blamed "local issues" for the defeat.

The victory for the Liberal Democrats comes after several difficult weeks for the party.

Former leader Charles Kennedy resigned after admitting a drink problem; former home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten was involved in a sex scandal; and party president Simon Hughes apologised for misleading people about his sexuality.

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the Dunfermline and West Fife victory had been won because of a "very good local candidate" who had fought a "very good campaign".

"I think they saw that this was an opportunity to put the difficulty of the last few weeks behind us," he added.

'We would cop it'

The result also comes as Labour begins its spring conference in Blackpool, with Tony Blair due to deliver a keynote speech on Friday.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the government had lost the by-election mainly because of "local issues", such as tolls on the Forth Road Bridge, hospital cutbacks, the state of Dunfermline town centre and job losses at a printer factory.


HAVE YOUR SAY
This was an opportunity to put the difficulty of the last few weeks behind us
Sir Menzies Campbell

Send us your views

He said it had been a "bad performance", adding: "If people were going to send a message and show their disappointment, we would cop it - and we did."

Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen said: "People are getting a positive message from the Liberal Democrats and they are fed up with Labour.

"They feel Labour has neglected the area and we campaigned positively on the key issues."

Defeated Labour candidate Ms Stihler, a Scottish MEP, paid tribute to Ms Squire and said: "This is not a result which Rachel would have wanted but I think I know what she would have said.

"We have to listen to the people and we have to learn."

The Lib Dems increased their share of the vote on the last poll by 15.67% (35.83% share), while Labour's fell by 16.81% (30.63%). The SNP saw a slight increase of 2.07% (21%), but the Tories were down by 2.51% (7.81%).

Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond said: "This has been a strong SNP performance, with the swing varying dramatically across the various areas of the seat."

The Conservatives were in fourth place, despite campaigning support from party leader David Cameron.



They swung a huge ammount of votes whilst doing it as well.

The article comments that this was because of local issues, but are we instead seeing a shift in the political landscape as a whole?

[thundertaker]

Quote: Lib Dems Win Byelection

Ahh bless. It must be nice for them to taste sucess for a change....:lol:

[Alchymical]

:lol:

[The_Right_Honourable]

I think that the Liberals have an excellant record locally or atleast thats what people think.

No matter the terrible sham of a leadership contest people still think they can trust them on local issues.

Cameron is all gloss and no substance, Blair gets blamed for anything bad and is seen as very distant from the people.

I do not think the Libs are going to swing into power. I vote Lib Dem but they are FAR from ready for power.

Perhaps if they got into a coalition with Labour next time thatd be good. But i expect Labour to win a 4th term under Brown.

[Snow Patrol]

While still being an excellent result for the Lib Dems, on the wider scale this means nothing. It's a Scottish by-election for a seat in Westminister, immediatly rules the Torys out, SNP are a joke and Labour aren't the most popular party at the moment. Most likely a protest vote and the seat will probably revert to Labour at the next general election.

The really interesting thing is the caustic effect Gordon Brown had on the Labour campaign, the election was mainly fought on local devolved issues, yet Brown offered intereference from central Government and people didn't like it or him it seems, 16% is a pretty big swing.