Britain's Conservative Party crushes Labour Party in symbolic election

Britain's Conservative Party has crushed the governing Labour Party in a symbolic electoral battle. Tory candidate Edward Timpson has beaten his left-wing competitor Tamsin Dunwoody to take the parliamentary seat of Crewe and Nantwich in northwestern England. The special election was widely seen as a barometer of Labour leader Gordon Brown's popularity. Labour had held Crewe and Nantwich since its creation in 1983 and Crewe has supported Labour since World War II.