[JCB]

The result will be a morale booster to Labour whose share of the vote is back to the 1997 landslide result .
There was a collapse in the Conservative vote , down from 26% to 12% . I think this is unusual in a bye-election so close to a General Election . They were down by more than 7000 votes , so they can't say that Conservative voters switched to the Liberal Democrats . If that was the case the Liberal Democrats would have won , but instead they were more than 3500 votes behind Labour . And remember that the Liberal Democrat boast used to be how well they did in bye-elections .

I think that the Coalition's mantra about the mess that Labour left behind is beginning to wear a bit thin . When people look at the USA , Ireland , Greece , Portugal , Spain , etc. they are reminded that the mess was a result of an international , global financial crisis .

Without doubt the Labour government made mistakes just like the Coalition is making , but in no way can it be made to share the full blame of what was a disaster for global capitalism .