Dunfermline and West Fife

The Lib Dems have won the Dunfermline by-election with 12,391 votes, overturning a 11,500 Labour majority. The Labour candidate Catherine Stihler secured 10,591 votes. This was a safe Labour seat which the Labour Party should not have lost.

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Key quote: "People are fed up with Labour for taking them for granted for far too long, they are fed up of too much spin, and the people of Dunfermline and West Fife have spoken for the rest of the country with their views on the Labour government." - Willie Rennie, the Lib Dem Candidate and now MP.
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The Liberal Democrats swept to a dramatic victory condemning Labour to it's worst by-election defeat in Scotland for 18 years.

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From The Scotsman today:

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''Willie Rennie, the triumphant new MP, overturned a massive 11,500 Labour majority, recording a swing of 16 per cent to the Liberal Democrats and, in doing so, dealt a devastating blow to Gordon Brown's political credibility.

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The Chancellor had led this Labour campaign, spending many days in the constituency and dictating the party's approach. Mr Brown, who lives in the constituency, was desperate to show he could deliver election victories on his own doorstep, and his failure to do so will reverberate around the Labour Party. ''

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A conclusion from this result could be that the Scots - or at least the voters of Dunfermline and West Fife - prefer The Lib Dem vision of Scotland to be a region of the EU and not a country within the EU. The more accurate conclusion is that the result was a reflection of a very well organised campaign with a clear cut and well delivered message.

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The result in full:

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Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) 12,391
Catherine Stihler (Lab) 10,591
Douglas Chapman (SNP) 7,261
Carrie Ruxton (Cons) 2,702
John McAllion (SSP) 537
James Hargreaves (SCP) 411
Thomas Minogue (AFBTP) 374
Ian Borland (UKIP) 208
Dick Rodgers (CG) 103