That concludes our live page coverage - you can read the news story on today's events here.

So it's been a busy day in British politics, as former Tory MP Mark Reckless wins the by-election in Rochester and Strood for UKIP.

Mr Reckless said that if his party can win there, "we can win across the country". UKIP's leader, Nigel Farage, said he believed the number of seats that UKIP could win at the general election in May had "probably doubled".

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "absolutely determined" to win the seat back for the Conservatives next year. Ed Miliband said the result was a "devastating" setback for Mr Cameron and he was determined to meet the challenge posed by UKIP.

Away from the action at the polls, shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry resigned from the Labour front bench after being accused of "sneering" by tweeting a photo of a Rochester house with England flags and a white van outside, prior to the vote.

Meeshell Fooko tweets, external: Deeply dispirited by the UKIP victory in #RochesterandStrood. I always hope people will be better than they prove to be

Here's a round up of how Friday's newspapers have been covering the events in Rochester and Strood.

Writing in the Financial Times, external, Janan Ganesh said the Conservative party benches are "peppered with cranks, zealots and the flamboyantly disloyal".

The Guardian's, external political editor, Patrick Wintour, wrote that "the nature of by-elections is that they are of little intrinsic significance: their importance lies in their consequence".

In the Independent, external, Oliver Wright wrote that: "Rochester was not considered fertile Ukip territory. The seat is more affluent, young and ethnically diverse than the seats Ukip has traditionally targeted and Mr Reckless did not have the same personal following as Douglas Carswell."

The Daily Mail, external said the Conservatives "tried to put a brave face on the defeat" but overall the result was "embarrassing for David Cameron" and "humiliating" for the Liberal Democrats.

Writing in the Telegraph, external, senior political correspondent Christopher Hope reported that the win was "further evidence that Ukip's hold on British politics is strengthening".

And the Mirror, external reported that David Cameron's "hopes of regaining Downing Street in May's general election are threatened by UKIP's surge in the polls".

Glen Mitchell in Salford tweets, external: Cameron's determination to resting and now win back #RochesterandStrood looks slightly obsessive and vindictive towards Mark Reckless.

BBC South East political editor Louise Stewart has been looking at the potential fall-out from the Rochester and Strood by-election.

She says: "If any of the main party leaders were complacent about UKIP before, they're certainly not now."

Her blog can be found here.

One of the first senior Lib Dems to speak to the media, party president Tim Farron, quips that in his time on the doorstep in Rochester he probably met every Lib Dem voter there.

He admits the Lib Dems had a "frustrating" by-election, adding that "we couldn't get into the story" and voters had "boiled it down to two candidates".

But in comments to BBC Radio 4 he rejects the idea they should be pessimistic about the general election, saying politics is now "very fluid" and it's "highly unlikely" one party will form a government in 2015.

Tim Sculthorpe, parliamentary editor at the Press Association, tweets, external: Emily Thornberry is at the bar of the House chatting to Labour MPs. Looks like commiserations rather than condemnations from here.

It is highly unusual for a by-election winner to be sworn in to the Commons on a Friday - as Mark Reckless was, hours after winning the Rochester and Strood seat for UKIP.

A House of Commons spokesman said the last time this happened was on February 17 1956, when Edward du Cann took his seat for Taunton.

The World At One has been asking Labour MPs for their reaction to the tweet by Emily Thornberry that led to her resignation.

Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, condemns her actions as "unbelievably unhelpful" because it gave the impression that Labour is "run by an out-of-touch metropolitan elite". He also stresses that the England flag "does not belong to the far-right".

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman weighs in on the criticism, saying "it created a misperception of what Labour is about". She adds that the party has MPs and councillors "from all different backgrounds - we are of and for working-class areas".

Image source, PA

BBC Radio 4 has also heard from UKIP MP Douglas Carswell - seen here out on the campaign trail with Mark Reckless earlier this month.

He insists people voted UKIP for a range of reasons and that the party only mentioned immigration "once" on its leaflets in the Rochester by-election.

The MP for Clacton describes his party as the only one which will deliver "fundamental reform".

Dave Alcock from Kent tweets:, external Michael Gove called #RochesterandStrood wipeout a "very good" result on #bbcdp. Wonder what a bad result looks like?

Also on The World At One, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin says he's "disappointed" at the result but that now the priority should be persuading people that the Conservatives "can deliver a strong economy".

Chris Jones from Liverpool tweets:, external Interested in relatively low turnout in #RochesterandStrood, only just over 50% with about 7k voters less than general election.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen tells BBC Radio 4's The World At One the prime minister needs to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership and, if that doesn't happen, to lead the campaign for a "No" vote in an in/out EU referendum.

He adds that he won't be the third Tory MP to defect.

Amanda Brett from Yorkshire tweets, external: I do wonder why more people didn't go and vote in #RochesterandStrood. Now they've got a UKIP MP! Makes no sense.

In case you haven't seen it yet, there's a handy compilation of numbers, maps and tables charting UKIP's polling strength in different constituencies now available here.

Glyn Edwards from Wirral tweets, external: Can't believe Monster Raving party got 151 votes in Rochester to Lib Dems 349! How Clegg is still leader is a joke! #RochesterandStrood

Veteran Labour MP Austin Mitchell says former shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry was "daft" to resign over a tweet and it showed that Ed Miliband was "motivated by panic".

He told the Huffington Post UK, external, her departure was "totally unnecessary" and the resulting furore was a "storm in a teacup".

Mr Mitchell, who plans to stand down from his Grimsby seat in 2015, said: "The leader has bigger things to worry about. He shouldn't have his acolytes running about getting people to resign over trivia."

Jonathan Sebire from Highgate tweets, external: I'd like to see this list of 270 seats @UKIP are touting as, now presumably 'very', likely winnable seats. #RochesterandStrood