Lib Dems Win Again

7.55.56am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 16th Jul 2005

Liberal Democrats in South Dorset are celebrating today following the victory in Cheadle. Lib Dem Mark Hunter retained the seat with a majority of 3,657 over the Conservatives.

"This is a great result for the Lib Dems but also for positive politics‰ said Graham Oakes. The Conservatives had fought one of their most negative and dirty campaigns in recent years, however this appears to have increased support for the Lib Dems, with large numbers of Labour supporters switching to them.

"The General Election in South Dorset was a clean contest, livened up by the antics of Ed Matts. What we witnessed in Cheadle was the worst type of American politics. I am pleased to say it backfired.‰

"This result also shows that British politics is now three party politics‰ he added.

Labour came third and lost their deposit.