Jeremy Corbyn is not the cause of Labour's woes, says Norwich MP

The Copeland by-election victory was also the first time a governing party has taken a seat from the opposition party since 1982. The Tory candidate, Trudy Harrison, won with 13,748 votes to Ms Troughton's 11,601, increasing the Conservative vote share in the constituency by 8 points to 44 per cent.

To laughter, Jeremy Corbyn denied he had done so and when pushed on the matter, he refused to elaborate and said: "Thank you for your question".

The result revived demands that party leader Jeremy Corbyn resign and strengthened the position of Prime Minister Theresa May. The constituency is heavily dependent on the Sellafield reprocessing plant, and hopes to welcome the new Moorside nuclear power station.

STILL RED Labour cling on in Stoke Central by-election defeating Ukip's Paul Nuttall - but why was Professor Green there? He admitted that Labour's message was not enough to win in Copeland, but called his party's victory in Stoke a "decisive rejection of UKIP's politics of division and dishonesty".

Many first-time Conservative voters in Copeland cited the Conservative Party's commitment to supporting nuclear power as the motivation behind their vote.

S&D sources told EURACTIV.com that for the next two years, "We will provide them with information regarding the negotiations as they can not rely on the government". It has returned Labour MPs without exception since the 1930s.

A senior member of Jeremy Corbyn's top team has urged him to listen to the public and not shy away from "painful conclusions" of the "devastating" Copeland by-election result.

The Conservatives made history by smashing Labour in its heartland by winning the Copeland seat as well as increasing its share of the votes.

But if he had, he might have said that Labour was too far down the wrong side of this axis.

In the Richmond by-election at the end of 2016, the number of Labour votes was smaller than the number of Labour members in the constituency.

Dave Prentis, head of the Unison union, said the Labour leader must improve the party - following last night's "disastrous results".

The loss of Copeland - a seat Labour has held for decades - is a sign of how far the political landscape in the United Kingdom has shifted after Britain's move to leave the EU. This was ideal UKIP territory, and the party came second second to Labour in the seat in 2015. The Brexit Catch-22 facing Labour - whose voters were split, one-third for in favor of leaving the European Union, two-thirds against - remains a pressing electoral concern for the party.

"They say half a loaf may be better than none but in Labour's case, I'm not so sure", said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London.

"Copeland shows it is not going to stop us gaining Labour seats in those places where we are clearly seen as the challenger".

Setting out the measures the Government has taken already on social care, the Prime Minister said that "more money is not the only answer" but that the Government also "recognise the need for far-reaching reform to encourage high standards across the whole country".