Westminster seat would go LibDem on Bromley swing

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 1st Jul 2006

The same swing here in Westminster would see Conservative MP Mark Field out and the LibDems in

Conservative MP Mark Field's Cities of London and Westminster seat would fall to the Liberal Democrats if Thursday's result at the parliamentary by-election in Bromley and Chislehurst - with its massive 14.3% swing from the Tories to the LibDems - was repeated locally.

The Liberal Democrats narrowly missed seizing what was the 17th safest Conservative seat in the country by slashing the Tory majority from 13,342 votes down to just 633. The LibDem share of the vote shot up 17.5%, whilst the Conservative candidate's share plunged by 11.1%. Labour was pushed into a humiliating fourth place.

The BBC called it "a stunning result", "a very bad night" for the Tory leader and a "very, very good night for the Liberal Democrats".

Commenting, chair of the Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats, Jo Hayes, said:

"This is a fantastic result for the Liberal Democrats. It also highlights that voters - even in true-blue constituencies like Bromley and Chislehurst - realise that the Tory leader is all spin and no substance. He is a policy-free zone. Only the Liberal Democrats offer a real alternative to Labour.

"With people moving from the Conservatives to the LibDems in London seats like Bromley, the party here in Westminster is stepping up its campaigning. Our ultimate goal is to take Mr Field's parliamentary seat, and last night's result in Bromley proved that it can be done."