Gordon Brown's first anniversary as prime minister was marked in appropriately macabre style yesterday, with Labour MPs claiming to feel suicidal or physically ill after the party finished a humiliating fifth in the Henley by-election.

Just when Mr Brown's advisers believed Labour's collapsing fortunes might have bottomed out, the party drilled further into the political bedrock by securing even fewer votes in Henley than the Greens and far-right British National party.