Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

If Labour bosses are punching the air in relief at the Hartlepool result, Michael Howard must be tearing his hair out in despair.

In what was claimed to be one of the worst results in modern times for the Tories, his party was pushed into a humiliating fourth place behind the UK Independence Party.

And once again, the big message from this local poll was that while voters are patently turning away from Labour in large numbers, they are not looking to the Tories as an alternative.

At this time in a government - let alone an unpopular government - that is disastrous for Mr Howard.

The Hartlepool result will be a blow to Tory leader Michael Howard

It suggests he has not only failed to improve on the performance of his two predecessors, but that he is even doing less well than them.

It may not lead to yet another leadership challenge in the party, but it may well lead to claims the party is existing on life support.

The Liberal Democrats will be disappointed they did not repeat their recent by-election sensations.

But by giving Labour a serious run for its money, Charles Kennedy will still have plenty of reason to crack open the champagne.

The result also gave UKIP another significant boost which will see them claiming they have now proved they are a serious political force.

But it is Mr Howard and the Tories who will take the biggest lesson from this result.

Comfort for Blair

It is just about the worst possible news for the Tories on the eve of their party conference in Bournemouth which will now have a long shadow hanging over it.

That was one of the reasons Labour bosses chose this date for the by-election.

Voters are abandoning Labour but are placing their votes with a range of alternatives

They wanted to capitalise on any conference bounce they got from their week in Brighton.

Similarly, the prime minister deliberately timed the announcement about his latest health scare to ensure it would not adversely affect the poll.

So, while Tony Blair knows he is no longer the nation's favourite, he can take huge comfort from the fact that there is no single big challenger to his rule.

And it is that, rather than any great performance by Labour, which allowed it to hang onto the seat with a massively reduced majority.

A series of elections now suggest that voters are abandoning Labour but are placing their votes with a range of alternatives.

Tipping point?

The Liberal Democrats have been by far the biggest gainers from that, but UKIP also has cause for celebration.

The Lib Dems gave Labour a run for their money

The question remaining now is precisely what the Tories will do to combat this disaster.

There will be real fears in Tory HQ that this trend could gather speed and that a tipping point may be reached where voters no longer view them as the natural opposition party and look elsewhere.

That is precisely what Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has been predicting and he will see this result as further evidence of that.

The only crumb of comfort Mr Howard can take from all this is that things are always very different in general elections. But he will also know that that will not be enough.

He will have to take a long hard look at his party and its policies in the few months left until that general election if he is to avert what could be a major disaster for the party in that poll.