In a result that will alarm Tory headquarters Lisa Forbes took the seat despite winning less that a third of the vote – showing how Jeremy Corbyn could sneak a general election victory.

The narrow result saw the Brexiteer vote split between the Brexit Party and the Tories – combined they would have been enough to easily win the seat in an area what voted Leave in 2016.

The upstart eurosceptic party candidate Mike Greene lost the marginal by less than 700 votes to Corbynite Ms Forbes.