Britain's ruling Labour Party, which lately had suffered a string of election defeats, received an important boost by winning a by-election in Scotland, home of embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown, dpa reported.
Labour candidate Lindsay Roy prevailed with about 700 votes over his main rival from the Scottish National Party in the Glenrothes constituency in east-central Scotland, the BBC reported.
The conservative Tories clinched third place ahead of the Liberal Democrats. The by-election had been called after the death of the previous Labour incumbent.
The win in the constituency neighbouring Brown's own comes at an important time for Labour, which lost dramatically in the polls after Brown took over the premiership from Tony Blair.
Labour's approval ratings, however, have improved in recent weeks in the wake of the global financial crisis as voters approved of Brown's handling of the crisis.