LONDON // The Conservatives easily captured a prime parliamentary seat in a by-election yesterday, delivering another blow to Gordon Brown and his ruling Labour Party.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was delighted after his candidate's victory in Norwich North, not least because the victory margin was far greater than opinion polls had suggested.
In the event, the Tories' Chloe Smith - who, at 27, will become the youngest MP in the Commons - received more than twice as many votes as her Labour opponent, Chris Ostrowski, whose campaign had been curtailed after he fell victim to suspected swine flu on Tuesday.
Mr Cameron, who made six visits to Norwich during the campaign, described his party's victory as "absolutely historic" and said that Ms Smith was typical of the new brand of MP that he wanted to see in the House of Commons.
Were the Norwich result to be repeated in voting patterns across the country at a general election, Mr Cameron would be swept into 10 Downing Street with a majority of 218. But the turnout in the constituency, which Labour had held with a majority of 4,500 at the last general election, fell from 61 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent this time, reflecting voters' general disaffection with politics following the MPs' expenses scandal.
There was also considerable anger locally that the popular Ian Gibson, the retiring MP who had first been elected in New Labour's 1997 landslide, had been deselected by the Labour Party nationally after becoming embroiled in the expenses row.
Ms Smith said after her victory that "people had voted for change and had sent a message to Gordon Brown that was very loud and very clear".
"Roll on the general election when the British people also have the opportunity to vote for change," she said.
Mr Brown has been reeling from a series of setbacks this year with the Labour Party recording disastrous results in recent European and local council elections.
Mr Brown acknowledged that his party had done badly but partly blamed the defeat on voters registering their "anger and dismay" over the expenses scandal.
"This is clearly a disappointing result," he said, "but I think that ? the voters were clearly torn between their anger and dismay at what has been happening over MPs' expenses, something that we are trying to clean up, and at the same time the support for the former MP, Ian Gibson, who was very popular."
Nevertheless, the facts from Norwich North were ominous for a ruling party less than a year from a general election, especially as an opinion poll last weekend suggested that the Tories had only a 34 to 30 per cent lead over Labour in the constituency.
In the event, the Conservatives polled just below 40 per cent of the vote, well up from the 33 per cent they received at the 2005 general election. They notched up a swing of 16.49 per cent from Labour.
Ms Smith finished with 13,591 votes to Mr Ostrowski's 6,243, which itself was only 1,200 votes ahead of the third-placed Liberal Democrats.
The UK Independence Party and the Green Party, which had both made overly optimistic noises during the campaign of finishing in second place, came home with 4,068 and 3,350 votes respectively.
To the relief of all the mainstream parties, the far right British National Party, which succeeded in getting two members elected in the European parliament elections recently, polled fewer than 1,000 votes.
dsapsted@thenational.ae
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
MATCH INFO
Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)
Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18
Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)
Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no
Australia win series 2-0
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
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RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters