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Labour 'had it coming' - Lib Dems Lib Dems defend election showing
(10 minutes later)
The Liberal Democrats have said the Crewe and Nantwich by-election was a "dreadful night for Labour". The Liberal Democrats have said their Crewe and Nantwich by-election showing was "really rather robust", despite coming third with 14.6% of the vote.
Lib Dem frontbencher Ed Davey said the government "really had it coming" after the decision to scrap the lowest, 10p rate of income tax. Home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said third parties in by-elections often got squeezed to 3% or less of the vote.
The Lib Dem candidate Elizabeth Shenton came third, with 14.6% of the vote. He added, on the BBC's Daily Politics, that people had been voting anti-Labour rather than "pro-Tory".
But the party's chief executive Lord Rennard said the Lib Dem vote had been "really rather robust" in an area where it had always been in third place. Fellow Lib Dem Ed Davey said Labour "had it coming" after the decision to scrap the 10p rate of income tax.
Lib Dem chief executive Lord Rennard said the Lib Dem vote had been "really rather robust" in an area where the party had always been in third place.
He said a party that begins in third place "rarely does well in a by-election".He said a party that begins in third place "rarely does well in a by-election".
Vote squeezeVote squeeze
But he said the Lib Dems had not suffered "anything like the sort of squeeze" Labour and the Conservatives had done in previous by-elections.But he said the Lib Dems had not suffered "anything like the sort of squeeze" Labour and the Conservatives had done in previous by-elections.
He also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he did not fear a resurgent Conservative Party would squeeze the Lib Dem vote further.He also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he did not fear a resurgent Conservative Party would squeeze the Lib Dem vote further.
RESULT AT-A-GLANCE Edward TimpsonConservative: 20,539 Tasmin DunwoodyLabour: 12,679Elizabeth ShentonLib Dems: 6,040RESULT AT-A-GLANCE Edward TimpsonConservative: 20,539 Tasmin DunwoodyLabour: 12,679Elizabeth ShentonLib Dems: 6,040
"Having been in Crewe a lot over the last few weeks, the feeling very much was against the Labour government and against the 10p tax change in particular. It was not actually for the Conservatives in any way.""Having been in Crewe a lot over the last few weeks, the feeling very much was against the Labour government and against the 10p tax change in particular. It was not actually for the Conservatives in any way."
He said the Lib Dems had made gains in "traditional Labour heartlands" in St Albans, Hull and Sheffield in the recent local elections, adding: "It's the Liberal Democrats who are challenging, not the Conservatives."He said the Lib Dems had made gains in "traditional Labour heartlands" in St Albans, Hull and Sheffield in the recent local elections, adding: "It's the Liberal Democrats who are challenging, not the Conservatives."
Mr Davey, Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, added on GMTV: "With the economic climate turning down, the voters used this to punish Labour."Mr Davey, Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, added on GMTV: "With the economic climate turning down, the voters used this to punish Labour."
Ms Shenton took 6,040 votes, while Labour's Tamsin Dunwoody took 12,679 and the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson won with 20,539 votes.Ms Shenton took 6,040 votes, while Labour's Tamsin Dunwoody took 12,679 and the Conservative candidate Edward Timpson won with 20,539 votes.
In her speech, Ms Shenton told the government: "You need to know that you were very wrong when you supported a budget that taxed people on ordinary incomes more than the rich.In her speech, Ms Shenton told the government: "You need to know that you were very wrong when you supported a budget that taxed people on ordinary incomes more than the rich.
"The people who elected a Labour government did not expect it to behave like a Conservative one.""The people who elected a Labour government did not expect it to behave like a Conservative one."
She said that when she was campaigning she had not met anyone who said they wanted a Conservative government.She said that when she was campaigning she had not met anyone who said they wanted a Conservative government.
Mr Timpson's victory in what had been considered a "safe" Labour seat represented a 17.6 swing from the 2005 general election - which Labour's Gwyneth Dunwoody had won with a majority of more than 7,078.Mr Timpson's victory in what had been considered a "safe" Labour seat represented a 17.6 swing from the 2005 general election - which Labour's Gwyneth Dunwoody had won with a majority of more than 7,078.