Barbara Roche

The Liberal Democrats have made a series of spectacular gains from Labour.

Labour's Barbara Roche lost her Hornsey and Wood Green seat in a dramatic swing.

Roche had held a majority of over 10,000, but in a substantial swing of 14.6 per cent to the Lib Dem candidate Lynne Featherstone, the former immigration minister was defeated.

Featherstone polled 20,512 votes to Roche's 18,117, in a seat that seemed impregnable to the Lib Dems before the night's dramatic results.

But the multi-ethnic community in North West London appears to have reacted angrily to the war in Iraq.

In Leeds North West the Lib Dems jumped from third to first in the popular student area.

Student votes and anti-war feeling also saw Cardiff Central, as expected, fall to the Lib Dems and in a bigger surprise, Manchester Withington do the same.

The south Manchester seat saw a 11,524 majority overturned and former minister Keith Bradley evicted from parliament.

In Rochdale ex-student leader Lorna Fitzsimmons also lost her Labour seat to the Lib Dems.

However, the Lib Dems lost their 2004 by-election gain of Leicester South which fell back to Labour.