Bob Marshall-Andrews was in fact reelected - gave an interview while the count was still going saying he thought he'd lost - and saying that his being out of the Commons might be one thing that would cheer up Tony, if he was having a bad night generally.

But in fact he scraped in "'Beaten' Labour MP keeps his seat"

The slightly laughable thing is the way the papers today are trying to present the result as a kind of triumph for Michael Howard - with a result that in most elections would have been seen as a landslide defeat for him.

The truth is, if they couldn't beat Tony Blair this time, they really are in longterm trouble.