Blow for Brown, Disaster for Cameron, Thumbs Up for Ming

8.58.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 25th Jul 2007

Lib Dems in London enjoyed another notable night of electoral progress.

In the Ealing Southall parliamentary by-election on 19th July, they more than halved Labour's majority. Ming Campbell described the result as "a blow for Brown and a disaster for David Cameron."

On top of recent set-backs for the Tories, this was another sign that the Tory bandwagon has ground to a halt. The Tories failed to come even second, despite five visits to the constituency by Cameron. Even resorting to re-branding themselves as 'David Cameron's Conservative Party' failed to make any difference. The electorate appear to becoming increasingly immune to such gimmicks.

On the same night in Camden, Lib Dems snatched a ward from Labour, making the Lib Dems the largest party on the council. David Cameron's Conservative Party trailed in fourth place. The Lib Dems - already the largest party in Camden since the elections of May 2006 - have now gained two more councillors in subsequent by-elections.

Meanwhile, in Sedgefield - Tony Blair's erstwhile seat - the Lib Dems pushed the Tories into third place, slashed Labour's majority with an 11% swing and were the only party to increase their proportion of the vote.

Related Links:

Ealing Lib Dems

Camden Lib Dems

Ming Campbell's website