SCARBOROUGH'S Conservative MP Robert Goodwill has hailed his party's victory in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election.
The result saw the Tories secure their first by-election gain in 26 years, overturning a 7,000 Labour majority for the constituency at the general election.
Conservative candidate Edward Timpson won 7,860 more votes than his Labour rival to record a 17.6 per cent swing.
Mr Goodwill said the outcome was very encouraging for the party. He said: "I have been in Crewe for seven or eight days in the past three weeks and this is a result you could definitely see coming.
"I attended a dinner with fellow party members including Edward Timpson and Liam Fox earlier this week and we all reported that same feeling.
"There was a lady I spoke to from Nantwich who said her grandmother would be turning in her grave because the family had been trade unionists and voted Labour all their lives, yet would be voting Conservative for the first time."
The contest followed the death of veteran Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody last month. Mrs Dunwoody's daughter Tamsin stood as the Labour candidate but was beaten into second place.
Mr Goodwill conceded the result was as much a sign of the public's dissatisfaction with the Govern-ment as an endorsement of Tory policy.
He said: "It has partly been a protest vote against the Labour party. This is just one example of a reaction to the current economic situation and another sign that the public is not warming to Gordon Brown.
"The outcome now gives us a challenge to further develop our policy. There has been a view that Conservative policy has been irrelevant over the last 10 years because we have had no chance of getting into power. But now we have the responsibility of forming what may be the policy of the next government."
Conservative leader David Cameron said it was a "remarkable victory", with many people voting Conservative for the first time.
Labour deputy Harriet Harman said it was a "bad result", attributing it to voters' concerns about the economy.
Scarborough Evening News 24 May 2008