Sketch: 'Tarporley Toff' trounces Labour - and class warfare | Analysis: Peter Riddell | Red Box blog: Tories celebrate historic victory

A resurgent Conservative party stormed to a crushing victory over Labour in the Crewe & Nantwich by-election early today, placing Gordon Brown’s leadership under even greater strain.

In a massive boost for David Cameron, the Tories overturned a 7,000 Labour majority to make their first gain from Labour in a by-election for 30 years — with their own 7,860 majority on a massive swing of 17.6 per cent.

For the Prime Minister, whose unpopularity was acknowledged as a central factor in the campaign, it was another huge blow after months of uninterrupted gloom.

The Conservative candidate, Edward Timpson, secured 20,539 votes, with Tamsin Dunwoody trailing with 12,679 votes.

The defeat came despite Mr Brown’s £2.7 billion U-turn over the 10p tax rate just over a week ago. His decision to respond to anger over the abolition of the 10p rate by giving all basic-rate payers a £120 tax cut was welcomed by his party, even though critics interpreted it as a bribe. But it had little impact in Crewe, seeming not to have swayed core Labour supporters.

Speaking after the result was announced, Mr Timpson, a family barrister, said: "Today vou have rejected the old politics and voted for the positive alternative put forward by the Conservative party. You have sent a signal loud and clear: that Gordon Brown does not get it, and we need a change of government."

Mr Brown and his team will today treat the setback as a predictable mid-term reverse for the governing party, and in no way on the same scale as the drubbing suffered by Labour in the local and London mayoral elections three weeks ago. They insist that the 10p climbdown was a correct response to those results but that today’s defeat should not open up another bout of party introspection.

Downing Street has in advance ruled out a reshuffle, which strategists believe would smack of panic and bring more criticism of Mr Brown for failing to see that he, rather than his Cabinet, is the main reason for Labour’s present woes. The party has also let it be known that Mr Brown intends to spend the holiday weekend in his constituency in Scotland.

But the result means that doubts over his leadership are likely to continue until he can show some sign of turning around Labour’s lowly position. Despite persistent backstage whispering, it is highly unlikely that Labour backbenchers would make any move to unseat Mr Brown. But influential MPs believe that he will have to show some signs of improvement by the conference season in the autumn to lift the question mark over his future.

Mr Brown has yet to complete his first year as Prime Minister, and even colleagues who think that Labour will find it hard to win an election with him in charge still believe that he should be given a further year to show he can make a recovery. If things have not improved by then, a challenge — or even Mr Brown leaving of his own accord — cannot be ruled out.

Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, last night urged the party to set its face against infighting. She told Question Time on BBC One: “It might be that the electorate have decided to send us a pretty powerful message but the last thing they want is the Labour Party to turn on itself and be obsessed with our own affairs and not what the public want.”

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