Tories' victory in the Northwich North by-election

The Tories has defeated Labour in Norwich North by-election and have taken the constituency with a majority of more than 7,000 votes in the first Westminster by-election since the MPs expenses row, the BBC has learnt.

Tory candidate Chloe Smith won with 13,591 votes, which is more than twice as many votes as Labour candidate Chris Ostrowski.

The Daily Telegraph said Labour opponent was struck down by swine flu and represented at the count by his Wife. It seems these days even the H1NI virus votes Tory.

As the BBC continued, there was a swing from Labour to the Tories of 16.5% on turnout of 46%.

The Tories say the by-election victory puts them firmly on the road to win the upcoming general election while the Labour said it was “disappointing” but the vote took place in “unprecedented circumstances”.

Gordon Brown has acknowledged the by-election result was affected by the anger of many local Labour supporters as the party executive's treatment of their former MP, he also claimed none of the main parties could take “any cheer” from the result, with only the fringe parties picking up more votes than previously.

David Cameron added the victory was only the Tories' second by-election win in a Labour seat for 27 years and it showed people “want change in our country”.

He then accused Labour of running an “utterly despicable” campaign full of allegations about policies which were “not ture”

Different publication, including the Timeonline, the Guardian and the Independent all report the by-election was triggered by popular Labour MP Ian Gibson quitting after he was barred from standing again for the party over his expenses – sparking anger among some constituents.

According to the BBC, ex-home secretary Charles Clarke blamed Gordon Brown's “incompetent” treatment of popular MP Dr Ian Gibson.

He said what happened to Ian Gibson was not fair, and many people felt that, the party need the transparency, need a comprehensive approach, fairness and the prime minister need it to be done quickly, but these things did not happen.

Senior backbencher Barry Sheerman said the result was a “self-inflicted wound” and warned Mr Brown had until the end of the summer to reconnect with voters. He said morale among Labour members was low and that the party was in a "desperate situation".

The Tories newly elected MP Ms Smith was only 27 and will be the youngest MP in the House of Commons. She paid tribute to Dr Gibson in her victory speech and wished her Labour rival Chris Ostrowski a speedy recovery.

She will officially take her seat starting from October, the BBC reports.