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Shock Lib Dem win in Dunfermline
The Liberal Democrats have delivered a stunning by-election upset, winning the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency from Labour.
A massive 16.2 per cent swing from Labour to the Lib Dems saw Willie Rennie elected as Westminster's newest MP.
Rennie took 12,391 votes against 10,591 for Labour's Catherine Stihler.
The SNP came third with 7,261 while the Conservatives trailed in fourth on 2,702.
A seat held by Labour's Rachel Squire last May with a majority of 11,562 now has a Lib Dem majority of 1,800.
The result will pose questions for both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
It puts another dent in the prime minister's Commons majority and comes just hours before he is set to address the Labour party spring conference in Blackpool.
And the outcome will embarrass the chancellor who holds a neighbouring seat and had campaigned in the constituency.
It will also be a major boost for the Lib Dems, showing that despite having ditched Charles Kennedy as leader and been hit by a series of sex scandals, the party can still pull off election upsets.
Rennie thanked the voters for "the trust they have shown in me personally and the Liberal Democrats".
He said they had sent a "powerful message that will rock the foundations of Downing Street - Number 10 and Number 11".
Labour has "taken the people for granted", he said.
"This is a sensational victory. The Liberal Democrats have shown that we are the clear challengers to Labour in their heartlands."
And acting Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "This is a tremendous result in an area which Labour calls its own.
"It shows that the public has a real appetite for the Liberal Democrat vision."
Scotland secretary Alistair Darling acknowledged that the poll was a "very bad result" for the party.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It was a very bad result for us, let's make no bones about it.
"This was a safe seat, we should not have lost it. We were the government party, people coalesced around the Liberals, they wanted to send a very clear message.
"We have got to learn from that and make sure that we don't make that mistake again."
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