Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage with Peterborough candidate Mike Greene (Picture: PA)

Bookmakers say the Brexit Party is likely to win its first seat in Parliament next week.

Its leader Nigel Farage has said the outcome of the Peterborough by-election on Thursday will be ‘even bigger’ than the European elections in which the Brexit Party won 29 seats.

The constituency is normally a closely fought battle between the Labour Party and the Tories but bookies are giving the Brexit Party generous odds of 1/5.

Mr Farage says next week’s result will be ‘even bigger’ than the European elections (Picture: PA)

The by-election was called after the city’s previous MP Fiona Onasanya was forced out after she was jailed for lying about a speeding offence.


Onasanya was elected as a Labour MP and was later suspended from the party after she was sentenced.



The Conservative Party are trailing behind with odds of 33/1 compared to 9/2 for Labour and 9/1 for the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking at a packed rally in Peterborough earlier today, Mr Farage said the by-election is ‘the opportunity for the next chapter in this great story’ following the European Parliament elections.

He said he thought the Brexit Party ‘must be doing quite well’ as former prime minister Gordon Brown visited Peterborough this week to campaign for the Labour Party.

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The former UKIP leader added: ‘It shows you that our political establishment were absolutely mortified by what happened last Sunday (in the European elections).

‘But in some ways what happens here on Thursday is even bigger.’

He said the Labour Party has a ‘very good, well-honed by-election campaign machine’ and has been working the ground for ‘many months’.

Urging party supporters against complacency, he added: ‘Don’t underestimate how hard the Labour Party will try.’

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been campaigning in Peterborough (Picture: Getty Images)

Mr Farage said if his party’s candidate Mike Greene becomes the first Brexit Party MP then ‘we will have them on the run’.

The parliamentary hopeful is a businessman who has appeared on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire.

The Brexit Party is still yet to publish a manifesto – leading pro-remain campaign group Led by Donkeys to write some for the party on billboards.

When asked about future policies Mr Farage said he would achieve Brexit, fight to get rid of ‘ridiculous, expensive vanity projects like HS2’ and be ‘on the side of’ small businesses.

He also says he will stand as a candidate in any future general election.

Mr Farage added: ‘If we don’t leave the EU on October 31 in a way that is recognisable to those that voted for Brexit, then I predict the end of a two-party system that now serves nothing but itself and not this country.’

Mr Greene said the question he is asked most often on the doorstep is: ‘What’s in your manifesto?’

He said: ‘We don’t want a manifesto because we believe it’s come to mean political broken promises.

‘We don’t want to make theoretical promises, we want practical delivery.’

Brexit Party candidate Mike Greene on a campaign bus with Nigel Farage (Picture: Getty Images)

Mr Greene went on to make a series of pledges to the Peterborough constituency, including improving education and helping to create new jobs.



He said candidates from the established political parties will become ‘backbench whipping fodder’ if elected.

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Jeremy Corbyn said his party’s Peterborough by-election campaign is focused on ‘core Labour values’, with environmental protection and ending austerity key issues.

Addressing activists in the city today, he said: ‘A Labour government will end austerity, a Labour government will invest in the future and a Labour government will deal with the crucial issue that we all face, that of climate change and the environment.’

He suggested the local council could start by addressing fly tipping.

The Labour Party’s by-election candidate is Lisa Forbes who Mr Corbyn said ‘will be a wonderful MP’.

Jeremy Corbyn with Lisa Forbes who he says will be a ‘wonderful MP’ (Picture: Getty Images)

He said winning the seat would be a ‘good step towards getting a general election and a Labour government’.

As he left the rally, Mr Corbyn refused to answer questions about senior Labour official Pete Willsman, who was suspended on Friday over alleged anti-Semitic comments caught on tape.

Mr Corbyn told journalists: ‘It’s good of you to come here and report on the by-election.’

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A party supporter said as she walked past: ‘The anti-Semitism stuff – it’s all made up.’

Speaking at Leeds University Student Union today, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said: ‘It is so important to combat the far-right. And by saying far-right, I include the Brexit Party.

‘They breed division, fear and anger. They pull communities apart. And the Labour Party’s mission is to bring communities together.’

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