Senior Labour and the Conservatives figures are set to descend upon Peterborough amid growing panic the Brexit Party could sweep to victory in next week’s by-election.

Following its success in the European parliamentary elections, the vote on 6 June, prompted by the recall of former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya, is being seen as a litmus test for the new party’s ability to win seats in Parliament under a first-past-the-post system.

The Brexit Party has played down the chances that its candidate Mike Greene could pull off an upset, but a win “would give it a first foothold in Westminster and help build a serious political machine for a general election”, says The Guardian.

The Conservatives had been confident of picking up the seat after Onasanya was convicted of perverting the course of justice last year. Yet its dismal showing in last week’s European parliamentary elections has spooked the party and victory for the nascent Brexit Party, which only formed in February but has already attracted huge numbers of disgruntled Tory voters, would be a huge shock and could further precipitate its lurch to the right.

Labour meanwhile will be hoping to hold the seat it won by just over 600 votes in 2017 to demonstrate it can still compete in Leave-voting seats outside its urban liberal heartlands. An emphatic defeat, however, would pile pressure on Corbyn to abandon his strategy of trying to appeal to working class Leave voters and tack more drastically towards backing a second referendum.

Yet last-ditch efforts by both parties could prove in vain, with bookmakers installing Greene as favourite to take the Cambridgeshire seat.

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.

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

The Brexit Party will probably win but come the next election enough voters will realise electing a monomaniacal nutjob as your MP has only limited worth and one of the older parties will win it back.

Hi

The existing two Party system has been a disaster, time for a change.

The Brexit Party will probably win but come the next election enough voters will realise electing a monomaniacal nutjob as your MP has only limited worth and one of the older parties will win it back.