LIB DEMS SLASH LABOUR MAJORITY IN BY-ELECTIONS

Nigel Bakhai and the Liberal Democrats have soured Gordon Brown's honeymoon, slashing the Labour majority in Ealing Southall to just 5,070 votes. The Labour to Lib Dem swing was 5.2%. The Tories, despite five visits by David Cameron and a handpicked 'local celebrity' candidate, trailed home in third place in yesterday's by-election, picking up 22% of the vote.

Greg Stone and the Liberal Democrats stormed into second place in the Sedgefield by-election with a spectacular 11% swing from Labour. Labour saw their majority slashed by more than half as the Lib Dems almost doubled their share of the vote. The Tories slumped to third place on 13%, only just ahead of the BNP.

Lib Dem Party Leader Menzies Campbell said, "These are great results for the Liberal Democrats. In Southall we have increased our share of the vote and significantly reduced Labour's majority. In Sedgefield we have almost doubled our share of the vote, and pushed the Conservatives into a poor third place."

This is a blow for Brown. The government must heed the warning that their traditional supporters are sending - disastrous decisions on Iraq and rewarding the richest in society are being rejected by hard-working and fair-minded families.

This is a disaster for David Cameron. The Conservative Party put everything into Ealing Southall and got nothing out of it. In Sedgefield the Conservatives have been pushed into a poor third place. They are totally marginalised in the north of England, and they are going nowhere in the south.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party gaining momentum while both Labour and the Conservatives are losing ground fast. The results have proved once again that the real opposition to the government comes from the Liberal Democrats. Three-party politics is here to stay.