Ten reasons the General Election result is good for the Liberal Democrats

12.24.38pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 9th May 2005

Ten reasons this result is good for the Liberal Democrats

1. The Liberal Democrats gained more votes than any other party, with an increase in vote share of 3.8%.

2. The Lib Dems now have MPs, or run the council, in every major British city, meaning more coverage in the regional media based in cities such as Birmingham, Bristol Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester. The combined population of these five cities is 2.8 million. The Tories have no MPs in these cities.

3. Seats have been gained in urban areas such as Cardiff and Manchester Withington, in rural areas such as Taunton and in suburban constituencies such as Leeds North West. These have been as far North as Inverness, as far West as Ceredigion, as far East as Cambridge and as far South as Falmouth & Cambourne.

4. No other party has the geographical spread or the balanced representation between city, urban, suburban and rural seats.

5. Liberal Democrats have gained Conservative seats, such as Solihull and Westmorland & Lonsdale, as well as Labour seats. Many seats, such as Bristol West, were Conservative held in the 1990s before becoming Labour held in 1997.

6. Lib Dems have gained votes in every region, and are now in second place in votes in Scotland, the North East, the South East and the South West.

7. The Liberal Democrats have secured a strong platform for future growth, with over 160 second places. Combined with 62 wins this provides strong potential for future gains, as well as the potential to realise more gains from third place, as happened in Falmouth & Cambourne and Leeds North West.

8. There are now ten women Lib Dem MPs, more than ever before.

9. For every eight voters who have stopped voting for Labour since 2001, seven have voted Lib Dem.

10. Most Lib Dem MPs have increased their majorities.

Five reasons this result is bad for the Conservatives

1. The Conservatives have had their third worst share of the vote in over 150 years.

2. The Conservatives do not have an MP in any major British city outside London.

3. The Conservatives gained virtually no seats outside the south of England. In the whole of the north of England there were only three Conservative gains - Scarborough & Whitby, Lancaster & Wyre and Shipley. In Scotland they held on with one seat.

4. For every eight voters who have stopped voting for Labour since 2001, only one has voted Conservative.

5. The Conservative vote share of 33% is only 0.5% better than 2001. At this rate of increase the Conservatives will match John Major's 1992 vote share in 2085.