Ipswich - Labour last night held the constituency of Ipswich in the first by-election of the Parliament, in a contest which saw Liberal Democrats win votes from both of the main parties but fail to overtake the Tories for second place.
The result was a disappointment for Tory leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, whose party was facing the voters in a Westminster poll for the first time since his selection as leader in September. Amid noisy heckling from anti-war protesters, victorious Labour candidate Mr Chris Mole said: "It's a great Ipswich double and a great night for Labour. But the Tories sought comfort in the fact that Labour's 4,087 majority was well down on the June 7th general election.