LONDON - Britain's Conservative Party crushed the governing Labour Party in a symbolic electoral battle, officials said early Friday.
Tory candidate Edward Timpson handily defeated his left-wing competitor Tamsin Dunwoody to take the parliamentary seat of Crewe and Nantwich in northwestern England, beating her 20,539 votes to 12,679.
The special election, called after the death of longtime Labour Party legislator Gwyneth Dunwoody, Tamsin's mother, is widely seen as a barometer of Labour leader Gordon Brown's popularity.
Labour had held Crewe and Nantwich since its creation in 1983 and Crewe has supported Labour since the Second World War.
The devastating loss in what was once considering a Labour stronghold could erode Brown's authority and embolden his critics within the party.
Brown is struggling to recover from devastating Labour Party setbacks in local elections earlier this month and from nationwide polls showing grave doubts about his leadership since taking over last summer after Tony Blair stepped down.
It was to Brown that Timpson directed his ire as he addressed voters after his victory was announced.
"Above all, you have sent a message, that Gordon Brown just does not get it, and government needs to change," Timpson said as supporters applauded.
Brown, who served as Treasury chief under Blair for a decade, must call a general election by mid-2010 and faces increased grumbling in Labour Party ranks about the party's fading prospects of staying in power.
The first Conservative special election triumph against Labour in more than three decades is a vindication for Tory leader David Cameron, who only last year was facing rumbles of discontent from within his own party.
Cameron campaigned aggressively on behalf of Timpson, but Brown kept clear of Dunwoody, whose mother was a popular Labour legislator and held the seat for 25 years until her death.
Another special election is expected in a few months in Henley, where Conservative legislator Boris Johnson is expected to step down after becoming London mayor in a victory over two-term incumbent Ken Livingstone, a Labour politician.
