THE Liberal Democrats' shock by-election win is a "historic moment for the country", jubilant party leader Tim Farron has claimed.
Lib Dem challenger Sarah Olney bulldozed former Tory Zac Goldsmith out of the Commons, sweeping away his 23,015 majority to finish 1,872 votes ahead of him.
Mr Farron said the result was a verdict on Theresa May's "Ukip-ish" take on Brexit and showed that it was possible for moderates to win.
Lib Dems poured resources into the contest as they successfully switched the focus of the campaign to Brexit in the staunchly Remain west London seat after Mr Goldsmith quit as a Tory MP to force the by-election so he could run as an anti-Heathrow expansion independent.
The result was seized on by the European Parliament's lead Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, who congratulated Ms Olney and said Europe "is watching".
Tory Remain campaigner Anna Soubry said the result was "sensational", tweeting that MPs "ignore Remainers at their peril & u can forget Hardbrexit".
The comment prompted a death threat from one Twitter user, who urged "someone jo cox" - a reference to the murdered Labour MP - the former minister.
Mr Farron said: "Sarah is a reminder that populism does not automatically have to win. Those results, Brexit, Trump, the last general election, there was nothing inevitable about them.
"It is entirely possible for moderate progressive people to win through.
"This is the beginning not just of the British people choosing to own what happens next over Brexit, it's also the beginning of Britain finally having a decent, moderate, tolerant opposition to the Tories that fills the space that Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party have left behind.
"This is the beginning of something special."
He added: "This is a historic moment for the country, let's see what happens next."
The result saw Ms Olney poll 20,510 votes to Mr Goldsmith's 18,638, on a turnout of 41,367, or 53.6 per cent. The 21.74 per cent swing to the Lib Dems from Mr Goldsmith topped the 19.3 per cent swing they achieved from the Tories in the Witney by-election.
The Lib Dem victor, who took 49.7 per cent of the vote, said the outcome had sent a "shockwave" through Downing Street and paved the way for Parliament to "override" the EU withdrawal referendum result.
