Conservatives sweep to UK by-election victory

Britain’s opposition Conservatives have captured a paliamentary seat from the ruling Labour Party. If their success at Norwich North is repeated in next year’s general election, it will bring them a landslide victory to power.

The result is another blow for the country’s prime minister Gordon Brown whose leadership has been called into question recently. Labour had held the Norwich North constituency in eastern England since sweeping into power under Tony Blair in 1997. At 27, the Conservative candidate Chloe Smith now becomes the youngest UK Member of Parliament. She beat the Labour candidate by over 7,000 votes overturning a Labour majority of 5,000 votes. She said she was determined to represent the constituency with the same honestý and conviction with which she had approached the by-election campaign. The previous MP, Ian Gibson, resigned when he was barred from standing for Labour. The move came after a party investigation into his role in an expenses scandal which shocked the country.More about: United Kingdom

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