What The Papers Say: The Ealing Southall By-election Result

1.11.49pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Jul 2007

Leading commentators across the country have hailed the Ealing Southall and Sedgefield by-election results as good for the Liberal Democrats and really bad news for the Conservatives.

From this weekend's newspapers:

• Daily Express, Saturday 21st

"Leading Britain is a grown-up job for a serious politician. Voters have had quite enough of windmills, bicycles, sledges and huskies. They do not care for the dilettante Notting Hill Set which surrounds Mr Cameron. Part-time spokesmen who prefer to make money moonlighting rather than mastering their briefs should be swept away."

• Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph, Saturday 21st

"Frankly, if you can't even come second in by-elections halfway through the third term of another party's time in power, things aren't just wrong. They are catastrophically wrong. The worst mistake Dave can make now, though, is to imagine they can't get worse. They can. They can get a lot worse."

• Tania Branigan, The Guardian, Saturday 21st

"The third-place finish is a personal blow to David Cameron, who toured the west London constituency five times with political newcomer Tony Lit. The Liberal Democrats also squeezed the Conservatives into third place in Sedgefield."