Newark by-election: Paul Baggaley says he will stand again at General Election

Mr Paul Baggaley said he was disappointed not have won the Newark by-election and planned to return as a candidate next year in the general election.

Mr Baggaley, a member of the Say Yes to Newark Hospital campaign group, stood to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the hospital.

He came in fourth place, beating the Liberal Democrat candidate Mr David Watts and Green Party candidate Mr David Kirwan.

Mr Baggaley said: "I'm really pleased for the people that have support me and the people that have voted me.

"We spend all of £2,500 on this campaign - when you look at (the) tens of thousands of pounds other parties will have spent you wonder how different things might be if there was an even playing field.

"I'm really pleased though. I couldn't be more pleased."

Mr Baggaley said despite his success he was still disappointed he did not win the by-election.

He said: "We aimed to win the election. I never enter anything without wanting to win it."

Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Mr David Kirwan said he was "very pleased" to accomplish one of his two aims after finishing fifth with 1,057 votes.

Mr Kirwan said: "I'm very pleased to have finished above the Liberal Democrats. We went into this campaign with two aims, to beat the Lib Dems and to get our deposit back.

"I would have taken one out of two before the election and I'm glad that we got more than 1,000 votes. We will be back next May."

The Green Party last stood in a Westminster election in Newark in 1992, when they won 435 votes.