Cheadle Result

How should the Conservative Party react to the Cheadle by-election result? Mark Hunter held the Greater Manchester seat for the Liberal Democrats with 19,953 votes, a 3,657 majority over Tory candidate Stephen Day, a 0.63% swing from Conservatives to Liberal Democrats. Does this result provide ammunition for Conservative moderates or the "right"? I fear that both camps can claim victory as the result potentially provides succour to both camps. Moderates can claim that if Conservative policies were more liberal, they would have minimised the swing whilst the right can equally claim the opposite!

My post continues at Oncemore.