David Cameron hailed the "end of New Labour" today as he celebrated a crushing victory in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election that cast fresh doubt on Gordon Brown's future as Labour leader.

Mr Cameron was virtually mobbed by the Tory faithful as he arrived in the historic railway town of Crewe only a few hours after the Conservative candidate learned that he had turned a 7,000-vote deficit into a majority of almost 8,000.

He told supporters that he had woken up as the first Tory leader in 30 years to win a by-election over Labour - "and I can tell you it's a pretty good feeling".

"It was a remarkable result, but there won't be one hint of triumphalism or one hint of complacency from this Conservative Party," Mr Cameron added.

"We don't want to win just because Labour is failing. We don't want to win just because the Prime Minister is failing. We want to win because we have the right ideas for Britain's future."

The Crewe and Nantwich seat had been held since 1974 by Gwyneth Dunwoody, the feisty Labour veteran who died in April. Dunwoody's daughter, Tamsin, was selected to defend the seat.

But, with Mr Cameron's campaign backing, the Tory Edward Timpson secured the Conservatives their first by-election gain since 1983 - and their first gain from Labour since 1978 - on a 17.6-per cent swing.

The result confounds claims that Mr Cameron has made little or no headway in the North. Labour had held Crewe since the Second World War and it is 165th on the Tory list of target seats.

It will come as a bitter blow to the Prime Minister after a string of political humiliations and his U-turn over the abolition of the 10p tax band.

This morning, visiting a hospital in London, Mr Brown said that the message from Crewe was "clear and unequivocal".

"The message we are getting is people are concerned. They are concerned about food prices, concerned about petrol prices and concerned about what is happening to the economy," he said. "The message of the British public is clear and unequivocal: they want us to address these challenges."

Earlier, leaving his West London home, Mr Cameron said that Labour had paid the price for running a "backward-looking and divisive" campaign, which focused heavily on Mr Timpson’s background, attacking him as a "toff".

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