Both the main political parties suffered losses in the Newport West byelection as voters expressed anger, frustration and mistrust because of the Brexit crisis.

Labour retained the seat but voters drifted away from both it and the Tories, who came second, in favour of Ukip and a number of other smaller parties.

The seat in south Wales is regarded as a Labour stronghold and was held by Paul Flynn for 32 years until his death in February.

Ruth Jones, a physiotherapist and trade unionist, won the seat with just under 40% of the vote, down from Flynn’s share of 52% in 2017.

Acknowledging that she had bridges to build, Jones said: “There is a level of distrust of all politicians at the moment because of what is going on in the House of Commons. I think that was highlighted in the low turnout [37%].”

Asked how she would vote over Brexit and whether she would follow the party whip, she said: “We need to wait and see. The talks [between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn] will be developing. It’s hard to say what I would and wouldn’t do. I don’t know what’s on the table.”

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Visiting the constituency on Friday, Corbyn said the campaign and result had highlighted the impact of austerity and Conservative policies such as universal credit.

He said that when he joined Jones on the campaign trail last week he met a man on his way out to do his second job. “He didn’t want two jobs, he didn’t want to be working that way,” Corbyn said. “It was the only way he could keep his family together, a wonderful man doing his best for his family. That is modern Britain.”

The Labour leader of Newport city council, Debbie Wilcox, said the byelection had been a campaign like no other. “You feel the political turmoil on the street and when you’re knocking on doors,” she said. “We live in such extraordinary times. In normal times we would have been looking at a comfortable win here, but this time it’s been so different. I think that is a recognition that people are really feeling ‘a plague on both their houses’.

“It’s very difficult to get positive messages out. People who know me in my ward have said: ‘Debbie, I can’t be bothered.’ We unfortunately have to deal with the bite-back from national politics.”

The Conservative candidate, Matthew Evans, who is leader of the opposition on Newport city council, received 31% of the votes, down from 39% on his party’s showing two years ago.

He was in no doubt that Brexit had hampered his cause. “I’ve never known such anger and frustration,” he said. “What I’ve heard on the doorstep is that people want decisions made. People just want clarity.”

Ukip came third, upping its share from 2.5% in 2017 to almost 9%. Its candidate, the former Tory MP Neil Hamilton, said: “Ukip isn’t going to go away. We’re back on the rails and we will be going forward from here.”

There was encouragement in the results for some of the other smaller parties. Amelia Womack, the deputy leader of the Green party, said she had detected that many people were bewildered. “There are some people that are angry but I would say most people feel lost,” she said. “They no longer have political homes they feel comfortable in. They are looking for opportunities outside the two-party system. I think that feeling of not having a clear political home is one of the most interesting parts of this campaign.”

June Davies, who stood for the pro-Europe party Renew, said: “People have been welcoming on the doorstep because we don’t have the baggage others have. People are losing faith in local, regional and national politics. We have been able to talk about the real issues – austerity, schools, working families. I don’t think the average voter really believes that politicians are working for them.”