she met "was either drunk, flanked by an angry dog, or undressed"; this happened despite a Liberal Democrat minder, Ed Fordham, having been appointed by the party's Campaigns Department to proof read Dunn's blog before any posts went up. Fordham removed a reference to some of the people canvassed being Labour supporters, but he thought the rest of the comment was fine. Labour gave wide publicity to this remark and asserted that it was an insult to the people of Hartlepool. Dunn defended her remarks on the Today programme, in a performance that was perceived to be unconvincing, so Labour Party vans toured the constituency playing her Today interview on loudspeakers. Hartlepool had no significant ethnic minority vote, unlike the other three by-elections. The Liberal Democrats were nevertheless content to claim the large swing to them, and the Conservatives' fourth place established the Liberal Democrats as the main opposition party to Labour in the seat. UKIP did well with a local candidate, and its message of opposition to European Union fishing rules was a popular one in a port town. The Conservative Party dropped from second place at the 2001 general election to fourth place, its worst place in an English by-election since 1991. Labour believed its performance good, for it came at the end of a very long campaign (effectively seventy-one days), and with a swing markedly smaller than in other seats over the previous year; the party also regarded the result – along with that in Hodge Hill – as a vindication of its decision to aggressively attack the Liberal Democrats and essentially ignore the Conservative challenge. 2001 result From the 2001 general election. References External links Hartlepool by-election leaflets See also 2021 Hartlepool by-election Politics of the Borough of Hartlepool 2004 elections in the United Kingdom 2004 in England By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Durham constituencies 2000s in County Durham