Great victory in Dunfermline and West Fife

10.03.36am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 10th Feb 2006

Willie Rennie last night was returned as the newly-elected MP for Dunfermline and West Fife J

Willie Rennie 12,391 35.8% +15.6

Labour 10,591 30.6% -16.8

SNP 7,261 21.0% + 2.1

Conservative 2,702 7.8% - 2.5

Swing Labour to Lib Dems 16.2%

Swing Conservative to Lib Dems 9.1%

Swing SNP to Lib Dems 6.8%

The whole party is deeply grateful to Willie Rennie, his campaign team and everyone in the party who helped in so many ways.

Willie Rennie said "I would like to thank the people of Dunfermline and West Fife for the trust that they have shown in me personally - and in the Liberal Democrats. Tonight they have sent a powerful message to the Labour Government that will rock the foundations of Downing Street - both number 10 and number 11. It is time that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both got that message. This is a sensational victory. The Liberal Democrats have shown that we are the clear challengers to Labour in their heartlands."

This was also David Cameron's first real electoral test as Conservative Party Leader. The drop in Conservative support was greater than the average drop that they have suffered since 1997.