In Politics Weekly this week, Nick Watt examines the Tories' first byelection gain in a quarter of a century, in the once rock-solid Labour seat of Crewe and Nantwich.
The general secretary of the centre-left Compass group, Gavin Hayes, argues that Labour deserved to lose for running a "poisonous" campaign. The shadow environment secretary, Greg Barker, gives his views on the implications of the Tory win, while expert pollster Tony Travers of the London School of Economics asks: just how long can Gordon Brown hold on to power?
We also hear from Guardian leader writer Tom Clarke, political correspondent Jenny Percival and the Guardian's man in Crewe, Andrew Sparrow, on the fallout from the byelection.
Crewe and Nantwich wasn't the only story of the week. There were also two days of heated - and at times - angry debate in parliament over whether to change Britain's abortion laws and whether to allow scientists to create hybrid embryos. The Guardian's sketchwriter, Simon Hoggart, gives his perspective on the exchanges.
