Nigel Farage launches legal bid to overturn Peterborough by-election over claims Labour cheated to win

NIGEL Farage has launched a legal bid to try and overturn the result of the Peterborough by-election amid claims that Labour cheated to win it.

The Brexit Party will lodge a petition to challenge the result, with claims that a “convicted electoral fraudster” could have acted as an agent for the Labour Party, and that postal votes could have been rigged.

The petition will be submitted to the High Court and will be examined by a judge.

Lisa Forbes was elected as a Labour MP after Fiona Onasanya was booted out of office for lying about a speeding ticket.

She won the election by just 683 votes, with Mr Farage’s Brexit Party coming in second place.

Mr Farage said today: “I know people will say ‘oh but it’s sour grapes’. It isn’t.

“This is about a lot more than Peterborough, it is about a system that is wide open to corruption, to intimidation, to bribery, to abuse on a whole number of levels.”

The party boss said that postal votes system could have been abused.

And Brexit Party chair, Richard Tice, added: “There is evidence emerging. That will be presented to the electoral court. It’s wrong to prejudge that, or announce that now.

“It’s only by having a full petition that we can truly get to the bottom of what may or may not have happened here, but also the lessons for the broader system.”

Police are already investigating five allegations of malpractice relating to the by-election earlier this month.

Cambridgeshire police said it was looking at claims of bribery and postal vote issues around the time of the election on June 6.

Using the 1983 Representation of the People Act is rare and hasn’t been successful since 2010.

A Labour minister was kicked out of his Oldham seat after a complaint he had lied about his Lib Dem opponent.

Labour has rejected any wrongdoing and police have said no offences have been committed so far.