Crewe and Nantwich by-election: Cameron jubilant, Brown defiant as Tories record big win

Published on Friday 23 May 2008 08:39

GORDON Brown said today the message from the Crewe and Nantwich by-election defeat was "clear and unequivocal".

The Prime Minister said the public wanted the Government to address economic challenges.

But he brushed off questions about his leadership.

Mr Brown said: "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 that the Government was working towards addressing these problems.

The Prime Minister added that his task was to take the economy through difficult times ahead.

"The message is clear from voters people want us to address very real concerns."

He continued: "The message of the British public is clear and unequivocal. They want us to address these challenges."

He said that the task he had been trusted with was to "take the economy through difficult times ahead".

He added that we had to have "fairness for all and prosperity for the British people".

A jubilant David Cameron hailed the result as a another "remarkable victory".

The Tories overturned a 7,000 Labour majority to take the Crewe and Nantwich seat with a massive 17.6% swing from Labour.

The Conservative leader said the campaign marked the "end of New Labour".

And he vowed that he would not betray the trust of the thousands of voters who turned out to vote Conservative for the first time.

He said that he would now work to put together a "broad coalition" to oust the Labour Government and secure a return to power for the Tories at the next general election.

"Just like in the local elections, just like in the London mayoralty election, thousands of people came to vote for the Conservative Party for the first time and my message to those people is 'We will not let you down'," he told reporters as he left his west London home en route for Crewe.

"I want to go on building this broad coalition for change so we can bring our country better government," he said.

City of London Police said in a statement: "We accept the judges' decision. We have already reviewed our procedures and we will be working closely with the City of London magistrates to ensure that warrants meet current guidelines.

"Having consulted with the Fraud Prosecution Service, we are satisfied that nothing contained within the judgment has any impact on the main body of evidence being gathered in relation to the investigation. We will continue to work closely with the Fraud Prosecuition Service and counsel throughout.

"As this is a live investigation, we cannot comment further at present."