The opposition Labour party narrowly retained its Peterborough seat in eastern England, denying the Brexit party its first seat in the UK parliament.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Labour party narrowly has denied the Brexit party its first parliamentary seat in eastern England.
Lisa Forbes won the election with 10,484 votes, defeating Brexit party candidate Mike Greene by less than 700 votes.
"Despite differing opinions across our city, the fact that the Brexit party have been rejected here in Peterborough shows that the politics of division will not win," newly elected Labour party candidate Lisa Forbes said.
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.
"If we can come so close in our 201st target seat, no seat is safe," the Brexit party tweeted about the Peterborough election.
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.
Peterborough voted to Leave the European Union 61% to 39% in the 2016 referendum. Since the referendum, lawmakers have struggled to pass a deal through parliament.
Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May is set to step officially down from her role as party leader today.