Brexit news: Theresa May formally resigns as Conservative leader, as Labour celebrates by-election win
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Your support makes all the difference.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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Andy McDonald also said he was 'discomfited' by the fact that Labour's victorious candidate had to apologise over an antisemitism row last week.
Here's our story from the weekend:
Labour Against Antisemitism has put out a statement, describing Lisa Forbes' election as a "dark day" for Labour and calling for her to be suspended.
Spokesman Euan Phillips said: “When evidence of Ms Forbes allegedly antisemitic views emerged last weekend she should have been forced to stand down immediately, as urged by the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
"The Labour Party’s only Jewish affiliate, the Jewish Labour Movement also announced it would not be campaigning for Ms Forbes.
"Instead we witnessed the unedifying spectacle of dozens of Labour MPs - many of whom moderates, who had signed a letter of solidarity with the Jewish Labour Movement as recently as March - streaming up to Peterborough over the last few days to support a candidate who should have been taken off the ballot paper on Sunday.
"It appears that tribalism has trumped principle, and that the policy of zero tolerance for antisemitism has once again been abandoned by the Labour Party.
"We call for Ms Forbes to be suspended, and will be submitting a complaint to the party in the next few days.”
Several Labour MP have expressed their discomfort at Lisa Forbes' election following the antisemitism row.
Theresa May will stand down today as Tory leader, amid recriminations over the party's performance in the Peterborough by-election.
As promised in her tearful statement on the steps of Downing Street on May 24, Ms May will formally quit as Tory leader ahead of the handover of power to a new PM at the end of next month.
More here:
Here's the clip from the announcement of the Peterborough by-election results:
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has told the BBC: "This win shows that Labour has support all across the piece, all across the country.
"We are ready for a general election whenever it comes and we will will stop the Tories taking this country into a no-deal Brexit with all the threats to jobs that go with that."
Some early analysis here from the Peterborough by-election.
The result means Labour is less likely to support a new referendum, and the new Conservative prime minister is less likely to go for an early general election, writes The Indy's John Rentoul.
Read his piece here:
Tory leadership hopeful Esther McVey has said the result in Peterborough is "the shape of things to come if we don’t deliver a clean Brexit on 31 October".
She said:“Our persistent thwarting of the referendum result shows that a Brexit Party vote will let Jeremy Corbyn into No 10 by the back door.
"Brexit is an opportunity to be seized not a problem to be mitigated. The UK can thrive after a clean break with the EU, and we will at last be able to show, once again, how a Conservative agenda can kickstart the economy.”
Tory MP Kemi Badenoch has resigned as a Tory vice chairman in order to support Michael Gove in the leadership race.
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