Ham by-election result

9.55.54am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 4th Sep 2009

LibDem by-election candidate Rebecca Trimnell

Commenting on last night's result in the Plymouth City Council's Ham ward by-election, Liberal Democrat candidate Rebecca Trimnell said:

"First of all, my congratulations go to Tina Tuohy, the newly-elected councillor for Ham ward. I hope and trust that she'll do a good job for the city.

"What is clear from this result is that Conservative support in Plymouth is crumbling. Local people are seeing what the Tories do in power and they don't like it. Last time, the Conservatives were within 50 votes of winning this seat, they are now 600 votes behind.

"I wanted to win this seat, to offer a different and more independent voice on the council than the usual two-party ding-dong. Sadly, that didn't happen.

"So, my job and the job of local Liberal Democrats between now and the elections to Parliament and the city council next year is to convince residents that the Liberal Democrats offer a more positive future than the two old parties.

"And change is already happening. Between the 1997 election, when Labour came to power, and the last election, in 2005, Labour and the Tories between them lost 25,000 votes in this city. The LibDems gained thousands of votes.

"We didn't win this time, but we are changing the politics of this city."