Nick Clegg on the Crewe result

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 23rd May 2008

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg made several visits to the constituency

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said his party "held its own" in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, despite coming third. The Lib Dem candidate Elizabeth Shenton achieved a "respectable result" in the face of "an enormous national squeeze". Mr Clegg said it was a vote against Prime Minister Gordon Brown, not in favour of a Conservative government.

Mr Clegg said: "It was a respectable result in difficult circumstances for us. "It was an enormous national squeeze this was a seat where the Conservatives had poured in quite a lot of resources over a long period of time. "They were well placed to pick up the disillusionment with Gordon Brown. It was a vote though, at the end of the day, against Gordon Brown, rather than in favour of a Conservative government in my view." He added: "You lose some, you win some. There'll be many other by-elections to come where I'm absolutely confident we'll do extremely well."