Labour Party beats the odds to defeat Nigel Farage's Brexit Party in Peterborough by-election

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• Labour clings on in the Peterborough by-election against a strong challenge from the Brexit Party.
• Nigel Farage's anti-EU party had been widely expected to claim the seat.
• However, Labour's Lisa Forbes wins the seat on a much-reduced majority for her party.
• The Brexit Party had been strong favourites to claim their first seat in the UK parliament.
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LONDON - The Labour party has won the Peterborough by-election, despite widespread predictions that Nigel Farage's Brexit party would claim the seat.

Lisa Forbes won the seat by a majority of just 683 votes in the strongly Leave-voting area after a bitterly fought campaign. She said her victory showed that "the politics of division will not win."

Bookies had the Brexit Party as 6/1 favourites to claim the Cambridgeshire seat as their first in the UK parliament, after their victory in the European elections.

However, Labour had a more effective ground campaign, managing to cling on despite a large fall in their majority.

Peterborough by-election result

Labour: 30.9% (-17.2)

Brexit: 28.9% (+28.9)

Conservative: 21.4% (-25.5)

Liberal Democrats: 12.3% (+8.9)

Greens: 3.1% (+1.3)

UKIP: 1.2% (+1.2)

*changes on 2017 general election

The by-election was called after the incumbent Fiona Onasanya was convicted for perverting the course of justice.