Labour party denies Brexit party first seat in UK parliament
The Labour party has denied the Brexit party its first parliamentary seat after an election in Peterborough in eastern England.
Lisa Forbes won the election with 10,484 votes, defeating Brexit party candidate Mike Greene by less than 700 votes.
The vote was triggered when former Labour MP, Fiona Onasanya, was ousted in a recall process after she was jailed for lying about a speeding offence. Onasanya had defeated the Conservative candidate by just 607 votes in the 2017 general election.
Nigel Farage launched the Brexit party just eight weeks ago and the party was hoping to replicate its success in the European elections by winning its first UK parliamentary seat.
Farage’s party won the most seats in the UK’s European Parliament elections, winning 30.74% of the vote.
Peterborough voted to Leave the European Union 61% to 39% in the 2016 referendum.
