LABOUR candidate Tamsin Dunwoody said that the 17.6 per cent swing that enabled the Conservatives to take Crewe and Nantwich was a 'mid-term blip'.
Speaking immediately after the loss Ms Dunwoody said that a large turnout by Tory voters had played a signicant part in the result.
She said: "The Conservative voters came out in force, particularly in the rural villages, in a way that we haven't seen since the 80's."
"There's a global economic situation going on but we should stay united, stay strong and keep fighting. This is a mid-term blip.
"This was a difficult mid-term by-election and we always knew that was going to be the case. We know the Prime Minister can lead us through this."
She said she was proud of the campaign and would not change any of it although she was obviously disappointed with the result.
Asked what her mother Gwyneth would have made of the loss Ms Dunwoody said she would have found the nature of the campaign quite amusing.
Ms Dunwoody said: "A Conservative candidate could never have won here while my mum was alive, she carried a very strong personal vote but she would have enjoyed the knockabout nature of it."
Ms Dunwoody also sounded a warning to Edward Timpson as he took on the mantle of Crewe and Nantwich MP.
She said: "My mother was dedicated to this seat, she served it well as a Parliamentarian. It is an honour to serve the people of Crewe and Nantwich. Every one of us will be watching you."
''Daily Politics'' poll, 46% of people think David Cameron would be the best Prime Minister
The Conservative Party's Edward Timpson has won the Crewe and Nantwich by-election in the United Kingdom with a majority of 7,860 votes. This is the party's first by-election victory in 26 years and party leader David Cameron visited the constituency earlier.

Labour Party candidate Tamsin Dunwoody said that the 17.6% swing was a "mid-term blip" and that the people of Crewe and Nantwich will be "watching" Mr. Timpson. However David Cameron proclaimed the result "the end of New Labour" calling the Conservatives' overturning of the 7,000 Labour majority "the start of something different and something bigger".

He criticised the Labour Party's campaign in Crewe and Nantwich, which had described the Conservative candidate as a "toff", as "negative", "xenophobic" and "class war" but said he realises the differences between by-election and general election results. The newly elected Mr. Timpson said in his victory speech that "I am going to stand up for local families, local jobs and, whenever I need to, stand up to the Government on your behalf." 

Miss Dunwoody is confident of Gordon Brown's leadership, telling reporters earlier that "we know the Prime Minister can lead us through this." Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman also defended Mr. Brown's position, saying that "the overwhelming majority of people in the Labour Party... are fully behind Gordon Brown."

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, defended his party's third-place result as "really rather robust" and said the people's votes were anti-Labour, not pro-Conservative. The UK Independence Party are pleased with the result, claiming that it confirms the party's position as "the fourth political force in the country" and their candidate Mike Nattrass said "this has been a stepping stone for the European elections next year." 

===Result===