Labour retains Wythenshawe and Sale East in a by-election, while the Conservatives are pushed into third place by Ukip and the Liberal Democrats lose their deposit.
Labour is likely to win this week’s Wythenshawe by-election. But the big question is how well Ukip fares – while all the Lib Dems can expect is another lost deposit.
Gary Gibbon
Once a Blair-loving Tory and Lib Dem fan, Michael Gove is now a zealot for traditional teaching. Is he “doing the right thing” or trying to impose on everyone an education that worked for him?
From the so-called “Blair babes” to opposition cries that one in four of Tory female MPs elected in 2010 is leaving, is the face of Westminster really looking more manly? FactCheck has a look.
Maajid Nawaz “exercised his freedom of speech in expressing a minority Muslim view” and the Liberal Democrats “defend his right to do that”, Lord Ashdown tells Channel 4 News.
“This is not about freedom of speech – this is about the behaviour of a parliamentary candidate”: Mohammed Shafiq from the Ramadhan Foundation says Lib Dem Maajid Nawaz has offended Muslims.
Gary Gibbon
The language of the Northern Ireland peace process is being used amid signs of a possible reconciliation in the Lib Dem civil war over Lord Rennard.
ITV News films a confrontation between a press photographer and a man believed to be the son of MP Mike Hancock, outside the Liberal Democrat member’s house.
He was the fresh-faced politician on the block in 2010. But with the Rennard row showing no signs of easing, Nick Clegg looks weary and his party is in the doldrums. So what next for the Lib Dems?
Gary Gibbon
The Rennard affair is pitting the emotional side of liberalism against its intellectual side. With Labour or the Tories, such discussion would be drowned out by the thud of a pre-emptive bullet.
Lord Rennard threatens to sue the Lib Dems after being suspended, while one of the women who says the peer sexually harassed her, also raises the prospect of legal action.
Cathy Newman
The suggestion is that the Lib Dem leadership had every opportunity to deal with Lord Rennard years ago, but failed to take that opportunity. Hence my demands for an interview with Nick Clegg.
Gary Gibbon
Nick Clegg finds himself squashed between two sets of strongly committed party figures and tied up by a party rule book that lashes democratic and procedural chains around him.
Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron defends the party’s handling of complaints against Lord Rennard, who has threatened legal action against them.
After Lord Rennard’s membership of the Lib Dems is suspended, pending a disciplinary procedure, his spokesman says he is considering legal action against the party if the decision is not reversed.