BY-ELECTION results are notoriously quirky and open to conflicting interpretations, but the stunning victory by the Liberal Democrats in the re-run of the General Election at Winchester is, surely, among the oddest of all.

Conversely, the Conservatives' narrow clinging on to true blue Beckenham in yesterday's other by-election probably gives a more accurate snapshot of the political state of play.

But what is to be made of the outcome at Winchester?

The traditionally-Tory seat, which the Lib Dems won on May 1 by just two votes and then had to fight again after the High Court ruled the result invalid, became theirs once more - but this time with a massive 21,556 majority.

The Labour candidate's wretched showing of just 944 votes makes it plain that tactical voting was the order of the day yesterday at Winchester.

But even so other factors were at play.

Was it that the people of Winchester were annoyed at being dragged back to the polls for the second time in seven months?

Or was this a display of the traditional British dislike of a bad loser?

If so, they spelled it out to Tory Gerry Malone is spades.

Yet, whatever the voters' motives, it is clear that the Tories cannot draw a crumb of comfort from this result, nor much from that at Beckenham.

For if, before today, the Conservatives imagined they had commenced a recovery from their May 1 mauling they were doubly disabused in these by-election results.

The plunge in their majority from 4,953 to just 1,227, ominously suggests that leader William Hague's reconstruction has had virtually no impact with the voters.

There is, of course, a long way to go yet, but for the Conservatives it is still looking all uphill.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.