Paul Nuttall’s assurances that he’s “not going anywhere” literally came true on Thursday night as he was left stranded without his car.
In video from the evening, aides to the Ukip leader can be heard angrily asking “where the fuck’s the car?” as Nuttall tries to make a speedy getaway following his by-election defeat in Stoke-on-Trent Central.
Nuttall failed to steal the seat away from Labour on Thursday and is likely to face questions about the future of the party.
The 40-year-old’s campaign has been blighted by false claims he lost “close friends” in the Hillsborough disaster.
Surrounded by reporters as he left the election count, Nuttall tried to deflect accusations that his website, where the false Hillsborough comments were published, contributed to his defeat.
As he was hounded by reporters, Nuttall said the seat was only 17th on his party’s target list.
The Ukip candidate lost by 2,620 votes to Labour’s Gareth Snell and just marginally beat the Tories.
It wasn’t a good night for Labour either, with the party suffering a humiliating by-election defeat in Copeland, after losing the seat to the Conservatives.
The Cumbrian seat was held by Labour since 1983 but Tory Trudy Harrison snatched it by 2,147 votes in a historic victory.
It is the first time a governing party has taken a seat from the opposition for decades.