Labour has narrowly seen off a Brexit Party challenge to hold on to its Peterborough seat in a by-election.
Union activist Lisa Forbes retained the constituency for Labour, taking 31% of the vote and beating the Brexit Party’s Mike Greene (29%) by 683 votes.
Ms Forbes said voters had “rejected the politics of division” and backed the “politics of hope”.
But Nigel Farage, who founded the Brexit Party less than two months ago, called its showing “very significant”.
The Conservatives came third with 21%, while the Liberal Democrats were fourth with 12%, followed by the Green Party on 3%.
- A total of 15 candidates stood
- Turnout was 48.4%, down from 67.5% in the 2017 general election, when Labour beat the Tories by 607 votes
- Voters in Peterborough backed Leave by 61% to 39% in the 2016 EU referendum
- Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tory big guns Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt visited the city during the hard-fought campaign
- Theresa May, who will officially resign as Conservative leader later, did not visit the constituency
The Peterborough by-election was called after Fiona Onasanya – who won for Labour in 2017 but was convicted of lying over a speeding offence and thrown out of the party – became the first MP to be ousted under recall rules.
As the winner was declared in Peterborough – usually a Labour-Tory marginal – shortly after 02:00 BST, cheers erupted from Ms Forbes’ supporters.
In her victory speech, she said her win had “shown that the politics of hope can win regardless of the odds”.
