Chloe Smith may be forgiven for having an extra tincture tonight. Antony Little is reporting that Norwich North Labour Party have selected - wait for it - an Ipswich councillor to fight the seat at the next election. In Norfolk there are limits to their inclusiveness, you...

Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire: Although this summer’s Parliamentary by-election in Norwich North kicked off much subsequent debate about the alleged benefits of Friday (rather than Thursday night) counts after it was counted on a Friday, a close reading of the Electoral Commission’s report into the Norwich North by-election reveals that in fact the Norwich experience undermines the case made for moving to Friday counts. One of the arguments used for favouring Friday counts over Thursday nights is that the anti-postal vote fraud measures introduced in recent years mean that far more checking is required of postal votes than previously, an exercise which takes time and requires access to particular IT equipment. As postal ballot papers can be handed in during polling day,...

Chloe Smith is now - officially - the MP for Norwich North. ConHome has some great shots of the swearing in here. As the weeks have rolled on, some have forgotten what a great victory Norwich North was for the party generally and Chloe personally. A great day for the...

I am afraid that the result of Norwich North by-election has severely dented my appetite for blogging. When I put my views to the electorate and asked for their support, I could hardly have been more comprehensively rejected. I was convinced we could get a respectable vote of 7% in Norwich North and have something to build on. I am not interested in the smug self-satisfaction of believing I have access to a knowledge or analysis denied to the "ordinary" people. Nor do I think that people in the UK have lost their capacity for sensible judgement, or that political discourse needs to be dumbed down to try to achieve a wide appeal. The fact is that Norwich North showed that no significant minority of the general populace has any interest in what I have to say. So the urge to give...

David Challice writes about his experience from the Norwich North By-Election. The taxi drivers soon christened it “Tingle Town”, due to all the VOTE GLENN TINGLE posters springing up in one part of Norwich last July. To set the scene, Ian Gibson was the popular and independently-minded Labour MP for Norwich North. But when caught in the expenses scandal his own party turned on him, and...

[I have just sent this message to Oliver Kamm and Danny Finkelstein, two of those whose writings in the Norwich North byelection campaign in effect required me to pen the posting below entitled: 'Me: a clarification'. Unlike some of the other attacks on me during the campaign, Kamm and Finkelstein had the decency to make theirs on the record, and without selectively quoting bits of sentences I wrote. Nevertheless, I believe them to have seriously distorted my views, and I would welcome the chance to debate with either of them publicly over these matters. I hope that they will have the courage to take up my invitation!]   'Hello. I'm writing today because I've noted your criticisms of me in your blog-columns, during the past month of the Norwich North byelection campaign;...

We have had to combat this idea making the rounds in some of the press that "the Greens weredisappointed" with our Norwich North result. Well, obviously we weredisappointed, in that we'd rather have won, etc; but it was nevertheless easily our best by-electionresult ever:http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/jul/28/green-party-norwich-north-byelectionYour leader (The message from Norwich North, 25 July) confuses thecity of Norwich with the constituency of Norwich North. The Greens arevery strong in Norwich. However, two-thirds of Norwich North wasoutside of the city in the Broadlands suburbs, where we havecomparatively little presence. Norwich North was our best nationalbyelection result ever. It's clear that the byelection was anotherboost for ourselves and Ukip, and...

I can’t help but feel sorry for Craig Murray, though I think he is being too harsh on himself by saying he is “probably the worst political candidate in history” following his experience in Norwich North. The Honest candidate who is a human rights activist, writer, and former British Ambassador, Rector of the University of Dundee and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster School of Law, describes his devastating experience in today’s Mail “The 953 votes I garnered in Norwich North last week – just 12 ahead of the BNP – in a campaign totalling £46,000 cost me nearly £50 each. “It would have been much more effective to stand in Norwich market and accost passers-by with the line: ‘Vote for me and I’ll give you 25 quid.’  I...

1. Richard Willis analyses the Norwich North result.2. Liberal Burblings on the twitterfication of Norfolk Blogger.3. Politics Cymru analyses the three party leaders up close and personal.4. Obsolete offers some thoughts on Norwich North.5. Neil Stockley thinks Brown's reaction to the by election was too clever by half.6. Brian Barder asks what being the left means.7. John Owens on Party Lines warns us not to read too much into Norwich North.8. Rupert Read reflects on his campaign in Norwich North.9. Joshua Chambers takes Douglas Carswell to task over global warming.10. Norfolk Blogger gives us an account of the Norwich North count.11. Danny Finkelstein & Phil Collins give Gordon some advice. Which he will ignore.12. Liberal England offers some melancholy thoughts on Norwich...

This is the press release I put out on the announcement of the Norwich North result.Shocking result for Labour in unnecessary by-election, says McDonnellLabour has been defeated in the Norwich North by-election caused by the barring of former Labour MP Ian Gibson from standing at the next election.John McDonnell MP, LRC Chair, said:"What is clear is that the Brown / Mandelson stratgey is not working. However hard they spin it this is a shocking result for Labour. "The first thing that Gordon Brown and the Labour Party NEC should do is to apologise to Ian Gibson and his family, the people of Norwich, and the Labour Party members nationwide for robbing them of a decent, hard-working, principled MP, who was greatly respected in his local area."If we are going to learn anything from this...

This is an email sent out from David Cameron to party members on the mailing list:Dear Steve,I'm on my way back from Norwich after celebrating Chloe Smith's historic victory in the Norwich North by-election. No-one was predicting a victory on this scale. A Labour majority of five thousand turned into a Conservative majority of over seven thousand.I'm proud of the campaign Chloe fought here - not just because of what it achieved, but because of how it was conducted. Chloe fought this campaign in a positive way about the issues that really matter to people on the doorstep. In contrast, the Labour campaign was full of lies and half-truths. It's time they learnt the lesson that trying to scare people by lying about your opponents does more damage to you than it does to them.But people don't...

9.7% is best ever by-election result for the Green PartyGreen party campaigners were today celebrating their performance in the Norwich North by-election after more than tripling their vote, compared with the 2005 general election.The result was by far the best performance ever for the Green Party in a Westminster by-election.The Green Party received 9.7% of the vote, up from 1,252 in 2005 to 3,350 today.In comparison to 2005, the votes of Conservative, Labour and LibDem parties all went down. The Labour and LibDem vote also fell as a proportion of the turnout.Adrian Ramsay, opposition leader on Norwich council, and the Green Party's deputy leader, said: "This was our best by-election result ever. Our best previous result was 7.4% in the Haltemprice and Howden/David Davis...

So the Tories have taken the seat, but it's a great result for UKIP who have gone from 2.4% in 2005 to a whooping 11.8% in Norwich North today.This despite the fact that the BBC and the press heavily pushed the Green party as the alternative choice, despite our protests. UKIP contested four wards in Norwich North in the local elections last month and we beat the Greens and LibDems in all of them. Taking into account that we beat Labour in the European Elections in June as well, we have been badly treated during this campaign.Nevertheless, it sets the party up well for next year's General Election. Fringe parties do not get 11.8% in by-elections. This party is a real force that is receiving tremendous support not just among eurosceptic ex-Tories, but from fed-up working class ex-Labour...

The results are in for Norwich North and the result is a little disappointing.Despite putting in a huge amount of effort, UKIP's candidate Glenn Tingle came fourth.The results are as follows:Conservative & (European) Unionist Party: 13,591Liebour: 6,243Lib Dims: 4,803UKIP: 4,068Green: 3,350Craig Murray (Ind): 953BNP: 941Independent: 166Monster Raving Loony Party: 144None of the Above Party...

The nasty and vindictive Liebour Party have lost the Norwich North by election to the Conservatives by a swing of 16.49...

I don’t think the Rennard guide to winning elections is working due to the fact that the Lib Dems could have come second in Norwich North but clearly didn’t and I think this is down to the belief that Lib Dems have which is more leaflets equal more votes.I call on the party to see Norwich North as a wake up call and start socialising with voters, more soap box politics and Q&A’s and we need to start doing this now.I am banging on about this but no one is listening not even PPC’s because they are stuck in 80’s style campaign mode and I think its going to cost them the election's if they don’t start cleaning up their acts.Am I wrong or are people not looking at the bigger picture when it comes to...

Well it was disappointing and I hate to say it, but not surprising either. That said, I wish Chloe Smith well for the immediate future and hope that Chris will get well soon and will be able to enter Parliament before long, whether in Norwich North or another seat.It ought to be pointed out though, that the turn-out was dire. No MP should be elected with just 13,000 or so votes and this should serve as a warning, not just to the Labour Party, but to all political...

The BNP got a grand total of 941 votes in Norwich North. Very impressive. I thought that people were turning to the BNP in their millions to voice the silent majority of (white) people of Britain and protest against political correctness gone...

I’m absolutely over the moon for Chloe Smith, the new Conservative MP for Norwich North. Today’s result shows a huge swing of 16.5% from Labour to the Conservatives. Chloe was a contemporary of mine at the University of York and I know she will make a fabulous local MP for the residents of Norwich North constituency. I wish her all the best in her new role. Chloe has fought a model, positive campaign and deserves such a positive result. It’s gratifying that the smears of the Labour campaign and the outright lies of the Liberal Democrats have been punished by the electorate. A swing of 16.5%, of course, if replicated at the next General Election would see a Conservative victory in Worsley & Eccles...

If you are still wondering where to get the latest news/gossip from the Norwich North count I suggest you follow the link to the Norfolk Blogger's twitter feed. The Norfolk Blogger is tweeting live from the event and that's how I am following the...

Unsurprisingly the Conservatives gained Norwich North in yesterday's Parliamentary by-election, though not by as much as they would have hoped. Labour slumped, the Liberal Democrats just held third over UKIP and the Greens came fifth - which will have been disappointing for...

Here’s the result of the Norwich North by-election. In spectacularly uncoordinated fashion, all the LDV team are otherwise occupied this afternoon – so use this thread to pass your comment on the result… The tension is clearly mounting over on Nich Starling’s twitter account, with the news expected “within five minutes” over half an hour ago. Meanwhile over on the BBC, the Lib Dems have been squeezed out of the report entirely, with the reporter on the spot still thinking Labour could come second: At the count in Norwich BBC correspondent Carole Walker said it looked as though Labour would come second, after earlier speculation it could be pushed into third, but the Labour vote had slumped. Now Nich is announcing a 7,000 majority for the Tories....

The result for the Norwich North by-election has just been confirmed as a Conservative gain:    Conservative 13,591 (39.5%)    Labour 6,243 (18%)    Lib Dem 4,809 (14%)    UKIP 4,068    Green 3,350    Craig Murray   953    BNP   941    Holden   166    Loony 144    Fryatt    59    Libertarian 36    Baggs  23 The turnout was  45% So a Conservative majority of 7,348 This is a sensational result for the Conservatives (Norwich North was 162 on the party’s target list), maintaining the momentum gained in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. The Lib Dems will be bitterly disappointed to have come in third and labour relieved to have hung on to second place. More comment later....

The Norwich North Count has started. If you want to follow it minute by minute you might want to follow Norfolk Blogger's Twitter Feed...

To judge from Question Time last night the Norwich North public are a little angry at being asked to vote at all. However it looks odds on that 27 year old candidate Chloe Smith will take the seat from Labour for the Conservatives. The count is taking place this morning and you can follow the action at the Guardian Politics blog where Orwell shortlistee Andrew Sparrow is updating one of his patented live...

• Turnout was expected to be well down on the 2005 general election• A senior Tory source predicted a "tight finish" with just 40% of the electorate casting their voteGordon Brown is bracing himself for defeat in the Norwich North byelection as counting begins in what will be the first electoral test since the MPs expenses scandal rocked Westminster.The byelection in Norwich North, comfortably held by Labour since 1997, was caused by the resignation of Ian Gibson, who quit after Labour ruled that he would not be allowed to stand at the next election because he used parliamentary expenses to fund a flat which he subsequently sold at a discount to his daughter.The Tories were confident that their candidate, Chloe Smith, 27, will win today, though were nervous of comparisons with the...

In a report on the Norwich North by-election The Times reveals that all is not well in the Tory camp:A number of Conservative grandees have sought to express their anger at David Cameron by either refusing to campaign at all in Norwich North, or declining to make the three trips to Norfolk demanded by the whips of all Tory MPs.A number of stalwart Conservative backbenchers are livid with the party leader, feeling that he acted brutally towards them to demonstrate to voters his hard line over expenses. They believe that they were sacrificed for the sake of the Shadow Cabinet, members of whom they feel were merely told to write a cheque rather than forfeit their reputation and their careers.One senior Tory insider said: “There is a degree of ‘up yours’ going on. They feel that a) they...

The Prime Minister has accepted that Labour is to get defeated at the Norwich North by election and that brings back the prediction that I made on this blog yesterday. My prediction is that the order parties will finish is:1. Conservatives2. Liberal Democrats3. Labour4. Green5. etc...The results from the by election are to be declared tomorrow so lets wait and see what the results bring and if the Lib Dems have increased their vote or not. Like I posted on this blog I don't think leaflets win elections because if they did then the Lib Dems should win because they have put out the most leaflets.Clearly we will all have to wait see what happens...

Voting started today in the Norwich North by-election. The UKIP candidate, Glenn Tingle, has run an excellent high profile campaign with the help of dozens of UKIP volunteers who travelled to Norwich to help deliver leaflets.  The West Midlands even contributed a coach load of people! Despite the BBC freezing Glenn Tingle out of their election programming,...

Tonight’s Question Time comes from Norwich, and is broadcast shortly after polls close in the Norwich North by-election. For the Lib Dems, Baroness Shirley Williams enters the fray. She is joined by fellow peeress Baroness Warsi, writer and broadcaster Clive James and from the House of Commons, Geoff Hoon MP and George Galloway MP. If you’re tuning in, you can join the simultanous online Twitter debate here at #bbcqt, or the LDV debate in the thread below. Meanwhile Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson will be liveblogging events via CoverItLive at his own blog. Finally, if you want to be amongst the first to hear the Norwich North by-election result, then make sure you follow Nich Starling on...