Norman Baker thrilled with stunning result in Bromley by-election

2.32.03am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 1st Jul 2006

Party leader, Ming Campbell, and candidate Ben Abbotts go for a walk-about in Bromley during the election.

Local MP Norman Baker has expressed his delight with the outcome of last week's parliamentary by-election. In the 17th safest Tory seat in the UK, the Lib Dems slashed the majority from a huge 13,342 to just 633.

The result has been interpreted as a serious blow to Cameron's new Tories in their very heartland. Cameron was forced to concede that "we will have a good look and see what lessons there are to learn" from such a withering blow.

The remarkable result was also a blow for the government as the Labour candidate was pushed into FOURTH place as Labour voters switched to the Lib Dems as the only real alternative to mainstream punch and judy politics. Labour party chairman, Hazel Blears, described the result as an "absolute disaster" for Cameron's Conservatives, presumably also for her own party.

Locally, Tory failure in Bromley was compounded by defeats in council by-elections on the same night as Lib Dems romped to victory in town and district by-elections in Uckfield Town. This double-defeat was another confirmation of the strength of the Lib Dem vote in our area and comes as another serious blow to the Tories in the South East.

Lewes MP, Norman Baker, welcomed the results saying: "The Bromley result is very significant. I believe it to be a very positive result for the Lib Dems, but if it was a protest vote, as some say, Mr Cameron needs to ask why, for the first time, the electorate are protesting about the official opposition rather than about the government. This should have been a sure thing for the Tories. In the end they were one step from disaster."