Cameron boosted by huge Norwich by-election win

David Cameron has scored a sensational victory in the first post-expenses by-election with a 7,348 majority in Norwich North that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.Even discounting all the spin doctors' usual pre-poll attempts to manage expectations downward, this was precisely the sort of outcome Cameron needed, with a swing of almost 17 per cent, to underpin the suggestion he is on the way to a general election victory in a year.And it is just the sort of humiliation Gordon Brown hoped, if not expected, to avoid. At least he will gain some comfort from the fact his candidate Chris Ostrowski - still at home suffering from swine flu - held onto second place, and that the low 45 per cent turnout suggests many supporters simply stayed at home in a classic by-election protest.The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, failed to pull off one of their occasional coups, once again suggesting the old two-party squeeze is back to haunt them. Indeed, it may even be a three-party squeeze now, with UKIP coming close to denying them third place.It was always expected Labour would lose this seat, first won from the Tories in 1997 and held with a 5,459 majority, after being engulfed by a series of misfortunes which led Brown to describing the poll as "unique" a couple of days ago.Brown is leading a deeply unpopular government which has been badly hit by the MPs' expenses row and the recession. It also infuriated many in the constituency by the way it dumped popular sitting MP Ian Gibson as its candidate over his expenses claim, seen by many as a relatively minor offence compared to the sins committed by more loyal Labour MPs and ministers.Cameron had staked a lot on this poll and visited the campaign six times. Had the Tories failed to win convincingly here there would have been serious rumblings about his leadership amid claims the wheels were coming off his general election campaign.This result and the size of the swing, however, will give him a major leadership boost and do wonders for the already high Tory morale.Brown's detractors inside and outside the Labour party will undoubtedly claim this result proves he is a loser and is leading the party to inevitable general election defeat.There will be talk of a leadership challenge as the party moves towards its annual conference in September but few believe it will amount to anything. Brown, it appears, is in the job until that general election.Brown will also hope that, while 27-year-old Tory Chloe Smith enters the Commons as the youngest MP, she will not have time to get much older in the job and that, helped by boundary changes, the seat will return to Labour at the general election. ·