Could a Liberal Democrat fightback really be on the cards in Twickenham after pulling off a shock victory in last night’s Hampton Wick byelection?

The party has endured a turbulent few years, taking a battering at last year’s council elections, losing its figurehead in Vince Cable and its leader Councillor Stephen Knight stepping aside.

But new leader Councillor Gareth Roberts believed last night’s unlikely scalp – taking the Tory safe seat previously held by new Twickenham MP Tania Mathias – was only the beginning.

Chairman of Collis Primary School’s board of governors Geraldine Locke only joined the Lib Dems in May and now finds herself seen as the recovering party’s new beacon of hope.

Dr Mathias vacated the seat upon her election to the Commons, leaving the Tories confident of victory in their safest seat on the Middlesex side of the borough.

The Lib Dems had not won in Hampton Wick since 1998 and the Conservatives romped to victory in 2014.

But Ms Locke saw off her Tory opponent Jon Hollis with a slender majority of 108, to the delight of her party leader.

Coun Roberts said: “We win elections like this because we go out and fight and because we are hungry to win.

“Geraldine has been a fantastic candidate. She is everything you could ask for in a councillor.

“She raised her family here and she knows all about the issues people face – she struggled to get buggies up Hampton Wick station, for example.

“To win Tania Mathias’s vacated seat is the gilt off the gingerbread. It is the electoral boom exploding beneath the walls of the Tory citadel."

Coun Roberts said the party had gained more new members than any other London borough, bringing its number up to more than 1,000, since Dr Cable’s shock defeat to Dr Mathias in May.

And he believed the Gloriana saga, the sharing of senior staff with Wandsworth and ongoing proposals for the development of Twickenham riverside all contributed to the defeat.

He said: "I said Hampton Wick was all to play for.

“We keep hearing from the Tories that they have a mandate for the merger with Wandsworth – well, this was the first time their mandate was tested and they were defeated.”

Lord True’s Conservatives still hold the power in Richmond, as well as having two MPs, and it will be a long way back for Coun Roberts’ Lib Dems.

But the Hampton councillor felt this was the start of the Lib Dem revival and said the leadership of Richmond Council was now well and truly up for grabs.

He added: “Is there a realistic chance of winning the council in 2018? Yes, there most certainly is.”

Hampton Wick byelection (July 2) results in full:

Geraldine Locke (Liberal Democrats) 1,189 votes (42.96%)

Jon Hollis (Conservatives) 1,081 votes (39.05%)

Anthony Breslin (Green Party) 237 votes (8.56%)

Paul Tanto (Labour) 185 votes (6.68%)

Sam Naz (UK Independence Party) 69 votes (2.49%)

Michael Lloyd (Independent) 7 votes (0.25%)

Turnout 34.89%