A pro-European Union candidate has won a British parliamentary seat previously held by the ruling Conservative party, in a vote that turned into a protest against Brexit.
Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney won the constituency in southwest London after promising to vote against triggering formal divorce talks with the EU if parliament is given a say, overturning the Conservatives' 23,000-vote majority from 2015.
Olney said the residents of the Richmond Park and North Kingston area had sent "a shock wave" through Prime Minister Theresa May's government as it worked to formally begin talks with the EU before the end of March 2017.
"Our message is clear: we do not want a 'hard Brexit', we do not want to be pulled out of the single market, and we will not let intolerance, division and fear win," Olney said after her victory was announced on Friday.
Olney beat previous incumbent Zac Goldsmith, who supported Britain's plan to leave the EU, winning 20,510 votes to Goldsmith's 18,638.
He ran as an independent candidate after quitting the Conservative party over the government's decision to expand nearby Heathrow Airport.
The Conservatives, who have a slender majority in parliament, did not field a candidate to oppose Goldsmith.
The party says the result of the by-election does not change anything.
"The government remains committed to leaving the European Union and triggering Article 50 by the end of March next year," a spokesman said on Friday.
