Copeland win: How the UK looked in 1982, the last time a ruling party won by-election seat

The Conservative win in Copeland is the first time a ruling party has snatched a seat from the opposition in a by-election in 35 years.

The Tories turned Labour delight – following their win over Ukip in Stoke – into disappointment in just half an hour, taking the seat with a 2,147 vote majority.

Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison described her win in the Labour stronghold as “a truly historic event”.

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Back in 1982, the Tories won Merton, Mitcham and Morden, although the result was seen as a one-off as Margaret Thatcher’s Government was riding high in the polls on the back of the Falklands War.

Here are some other major events from that year:

:: Unemployment rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s

:: Diana, Princess of Wales, gave birth to her first child William, the Duke of Cambridge

:: Morrissey and Johnny Marr formed The Smiths in Manchester

:: High street giant Next opened its first stores

:: King Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, was raised after spending 437 years at the bottom of the Solent

:: Channel 4 launched, becoming the fourth terrestrial television channel when it aired the first episode of Countdown

:: 11 soldiers were killed when the IRA detonated two bombs during military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regent’s Park in London

:: Britain’s first test tube twins, Daniel and Christopher Smith, were born in a landmark for IVF.

:: Unemployed decorator Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and struck up a conversation with the Queen after entering her bedroom