Brexit news: Theresa May formally resigns as Conservative leader, as Labour celebrates by-election win
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Labour has seen off a challenge from Nigel Farage's Brexit Party in a knife-edge by-election in Peterborough.
Mr Farage's newly-formed outfit lost out to Labour by 683 votes, in a blow to the former Ukip leader's hopes of building its recent European election showing.
As Theresa May formally bowed out as Tory leader, the Conservatives slumped to third place in what is traditionally a Tory-Labour marginal seat.
Meanwhile, Tory leadership hopeful Boris Johnson won a legal challenge, which means he will not appear in court over allegations he committed misconduct in a public office by “misleading the public” about Brexit.
And Jo Swinson and Ed Davey will go to head in the battle to become Lib Dem leader after being announced as the only two candidates running in the contest to replace Sir Vince Cable.
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Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has failed to secure its first parliamentary seat as Labour snatched victory in the Peterborough by-election.
Unite activist Lisa Forbes was elected with a majority of 683 in the marginal seat vacated by disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya, who was sacked by her constituents for lying over a speeding offence.
Read our wrap of this fascinating by-election:
Labour is thought to have snatched victory from the Brexit Party due to its organisation on the ground.
Peterborough is traditionally a Tory/Labour marginal, and Labour won it in 2017 from Tory Brexiteer Stewart Jackson.
Momentum, the grassroots activist network, flooded the constituency with nearly a thousands activists in the weeks leading up to the vote.
Laura Parker, Momentum’s national coordinator, said: "This fantastic victory in difficult circumstances is down to the work of ordinary activists.
"Over the campaign, thousands of Momentum members knocked on doors and talked to voters in Peterborough, with more than 500 turning out for polling day and activists carpooling from across the country.
"Face to face conversations coupled with a radical, positive message about how we will transform Britain does win hearts and minds.”
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has tried to claim he never said his party would win in Peterborough.
"I always said we'd run it close, I never said we'd win it," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said: "We came a very, very close second.
"But here's the important thing: eight weeks ago today the Brexit Party launched.
"What you have seen from this result last night is that British politics has fundamentally changed, it is no longer just two parties contesting."
He urged Tory supporters to vote tactically for his party to take on Labour in similar seats.
"The danger is that in seats like this the Conservatives split the Leave vote," he said.
Our sketchwriter Tom Peck has taken a sideways look at the Peterborough by-election.
He writes: "A fairytale night for Labour in Peterborough. A villain, a heroine and only the briefest flash of antisemitic controversy."
More here:
Recriminations begin on the Tory front after the party came third in Peterborough.
Leadership hopefuls are already piling in:
Polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice told the Today programme that Lisa Forbes, the Labour candidate, had set a record for the lowest share of the vote won by a winning candidate in a by-election at 31 percent.
He said it was a sign of a “different political world” where no party dominates any particular election.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said he was delighted with the result in Peterborough - and rebuked journalists for downplaying the fact that Labour had won.
He said the party had won against the odds and Nigel Farage had left the count before the result was announced.
Pressed on Labour's Brexit policy, he said there should be a "second vote" in the face of a no-deal Brexit.
He told Today programme: "We accepted the outcome of the referendum and we fought to leave on terms that protect our economy."
Andy McDonald and Today presenter John Humphrys then had a terrific row over Donald Trump's interest in the NHS.
Asked about a future US-UK trade deal, McDonald says Trump wants the NHS to be on the table.
Humphrys denies this. McDonald says Trump did say it. Cue shouting.
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