John Randall basks in victory

John Randall's acceptance speech Dur 1'30"

Tories Hold onto Uxbridge

The successful candidate, John Randall hailed his win as the start of the Tories' fightback.

"The Conservative Party now is no longer lecturing, we are listening," he said. "I think this is an excellent start. I think from now on the people of this country will begin again to realise that they can trust the Conservatives."

It was the first time the party had won a Parliamentary by-election since their now leader William Hague won in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in February 1989.

Slaughter: Defeated

Mr Hague said minutes after the victory: "I say `Thank you' to everyone in Uxbridge. I congratulate John Randall. This is a great start. Trust is returning to the Conservatives. We are back in business."

The Conservative Shadow Environment and Transport spokesman Sir Norman Fowler echoed his leader's comments.

"I think we have seen the beginning of our recovery. That is the political significance of this by-election and I think you have also seen the ending, the stopping of the Labour bandwagon," he said.

Labour tried to play down their failure to win the seat. Their defeated candidate, Andrew Slaughter said it would have been a "miracle" if Labour had won.

But the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott conceded that there were always lessons to be learned from by-elections.

"Labour has done well in what is basically a constitutency which is a Tory seat," he said.

Hear the result - as declared live
Dur 2'10"

The result cuts Labour's majority to 176 and could amount to the first concrete sign that Tony Blair's three-month post-election honeymoon is over.

The by-election was prompted by the death of the Tory MP Sir Michael Shersby. A popular figure locally, he had hung onto the seat with a narrow majority of just 724 votes in the general election.

The Conservatives have fought a vigorous campaign, determined to give William Hague's leadership an early boost.

Kerr: Squeezed by Labour and Tories

Labour put enormous efforts into trying to win the seat, despite their huge majoity in parliament. Tony Blair even visited the constituency, becoming the first Prime Minister for over thirty years to campaign in a by-election.

But Labour's campaign was overshadowed by a row over the decision to ditch the party's general election candidate David Williams. Some local party workers were infuriated that he was not even shortlisted as a possible candidate for the by-election.

The Liberal Democrats were squeezed in the poll, as they were in the general election, ending up with just 1,792 votes. Their candidate, Keith Kerr only just held on to his deposit.

"We have fought this by-election on this issues that matter and matter to the people of Uxbridge," he said.

"We have won the argument. We have won the minds of the people of Uxbrixdge. The only thing we didn't win were their votes," insisted Mr Kerr.

• John Randall, Conservative, 16,288 (51.11%)
• Andrew Slaughter, Labour, 12,522 (39.29%)
• Keith Kerr, Liberal Democrat, 1,792 (5.62%)
• Lord David Sutch, Monster Raving Loony Party, 396 (1.24%)
• Julia Leonard, Socialist Party, 259 (0.81%)
• Frances Taylor, British National Party, 205 (0.64%)
• Ian Anderson, National Democrat, 157 (0.49%)
• John McCauley, National Front, 110 (0.35%)
• Henry Middleton, Original Liberal Party, 69 (0.22%)
• James Feisenberger, UK Independence Party, 39 (0.12%)
• Ronnie Carroll, Emerald Rainbow Islands Dream Ticket, 30 (0.09%)