The leader of the Eccentric Party of Great Britain has lost out in his bid to win the Westminster seat of former prime minister, David Cameron.

St Ives-based Lord Toby Jug was one of 14 candidates who stood in a by-election for the Oxfordshire seat of Witney, following Mr Cameron’s decision to stand down as an MP in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The seat was retained by the Conservative Party, with Robert Courts taking more than 45 per cent of the vote, earning him a majority of more than 5,000 votes. Lord Toby meanwhile, managed 59 votes, or 0.15 per cent of the vote.

Candidates must poll at least five per cent of the vote in order to retain their £500 election deposits.

There was victory of sorts for Lord Toby, however, as he beat an independent candidate and candidates put forward by the One Love Party and the English Democrats.

He was two votes short of matching the total polled by David Bishop of the Bus Pass Elvis Party, however.

Results

Robert Courts (Con) - 17,313 (45.02%)

Liz Leffman (Lib Dem) - 11,611 (30.19%)

Duncan Enright (Lab) - 5,765 (14.99%)

Larry Sanders (Green) - 1,363 (3.54%)

Dickie Bird (UKIP) - 1,354 (3.52%)

Dr Helen Salisbury (NHAP) - 433 (1.13%)

Daniel Skidmore (Ind) - 151 (0.39%)

Mad Hatter (Loony) - 129 (0.34%)

Nicholas Ward (Ind) - 93 (0.24%)

David Bishop (Bus Pass Elvis) - 61 (0.16%)

Lord Toby Jug (Eccentric) - 59 (0.15%)

Winston McKenzie (Eng Dem) - 52 (0.14%)

Emilia Arno (Love) - 44 (0.11%)

Adam Knight (Ind) - 27 (0.07%)