Peterborough Brexit Party candidate Mike Greene insists he will win the seat at general election after narrow defeat

The defeated Brexit Party candidate at the by-election in Peterborough insists he will be back at a general election - and will take the seat.
Mike Greene being interviewed after his defeatMike Greene being interviewed after his defeat
Mike Greene being interviewed after his defeat

Mike Greene came second by 683 votes to Labour's Lisa Forbes in the first ever parliamentary election contested by the Brexit Party.

RELATED: Labour Party candidate Lisa Forbes wins Peterborough by-electionBrexit Party 'politics of division' beaten by hope, says new MP for Peterborough Lisa ForbesNew Peterborough MP Lisa Forbes says voters cared more about crime than Brexit after by-election winAnd despite not claiming a seat they were odds on to win according to the bookies, self-made millionaire Mr Greene was confident of electoral success in the near future.

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Asked what he intends to do with himself after his defeat, he said: "I've been living in Peterborough a third of my life. The last seven years has been charity and community. I will keep doing that stuff. I wasn't doing it because of politics.

Mike Greene being interviewed after his defeatMike Greene being interviewed after his defeat
Mike Greene being interviewed after his defeat

"And I will be back in a general election. I am (going to run). We've learnt a lot in four weeks. Look how far we came against decades of data. Just see what happens when we come back next time."

The Brexit Party was launched eight weeks ago and had to quickly mobilise once the by-election in Peterborough was called following the ousting of former MP Fiona Onansaya through a Recall Petition after she was jailed for perverting the course of justice.

Mr Greene said he believed the Conservatives's failure to deliver Brexit will help his party take the Leave constituency in the future.

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He added: "I'm sure the Government will let people down on Brexit again come October, there'll be a general election, we'll be back, and watch what happens next time.

"If you look at those votes, then Leave voters far outweighed Labour. It's because people wanted to believe in the Conservative Party, even though they've been let down again and again.

"So that held up a bit stronger than people expected it to, but it still fell behind us."

Mr Greene said people had been "betrayed", but added: "Sometimes people get cheated but still want to believe in the person that's cheating them."