Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 11 Nov 2019
NIGEL FARAGE HAS announced that his Brexit Party will not run any candidates in constituencies where the Conservatives currently hold seats.
The u-turn will be seen as a major boost for Boris Johnson’s party, with Farage saying that he wanted to ensure that “Remainer parties” don’t have a majority in parliament to force a second referendum.
Farage had previously stated that his party would field over 600 candidates across the UK’s 650 constituencies.
Farage has been attempting to build a “Leave alliance” but said today that those efforts had “come to nought”.
“The Brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election,” Farage announced.
But what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the Labour Party, who have completely broken their manifesto pledge in 2017 to respect the result of the referendum, and we will also take on the rest of the Remainer parties, we will stand up and we will fight them all.
Farage say that the choice to fight against Labour seats and not Conservative ones is because of Labour’s “complete portrayal of 5 million of their own voters”.
“So in a sense, we now have a Leave alliance. It’s just that we’ve got it unilaterally.
We’ve decided ourselves that we absolutely have to put country before party and take the fight to Labour, ” Farage said.
The Brexit Party MEP also said that polling conducted by his own party suggested that if the the party stood in Conservative areas it could split the Leave vote and lead to “quite a large number of Liberal Democrat gains”.
“The real concern about that is what would happen if the Remainer parties could get between 325 seats in parliament? Well, we know what would happen. There’d be a second referendum. And so that has been a very real concern for me,” he said.
Farage, who was opposed to Johnson’s Brexit deal, has now suggested that he supports passing the deal in parliament.
“I have to say that last night, for the first time I saw something, since that Brussels summit, that actually was optimistic. I saw Boris Johnson on a video saying: ‘We will not extend the transition period beyond the end of 2020′,” Farage said.
Despite saying he has issues of “trust” around Johnson’s delivery, Farage added:
“At least it was a clear, unequivocal statement from him that we’re not going on beyond the end of 2020.”
Reacting to the news on the campaign trail, Johnson welcomed Farage’s move but denied it was any kind of deal between the two parties.
“I’m glad that there’s a recognition that there’s only one way to get Brexit done and that’s to vote for the Conservatives,” Johnson told reporters.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that the move demonstrated that Johnson and Farage are in cahoots.
“One week ago Donald Trump told Nigel Farage to make a pact with Boris Johnson. Today, Trump got his wish. This Trump alliance is Thatcherism on steroids and could send £500 million a week from our NHS to big drugs companies. It must be stopped,” Corbyn tweeted.
Last week, Trump had gone on Farage’s radio show to say that Farage and Johnson working together would be “an unstoppable force.”
The NHS is a key election issue amid claims that US drug companies would have greater access to the UK health system as part of a post-Brexit trade deal.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What is it with all these parties making pacts to not compete with each other, kinda makes a mockery of democracy
@James Doherty: Parties coming together when they have the same objective, I would say that is the essence of democracy.
If you don’t like their objective, vote for the alternatives.
@milton friedman: probably completely divergent views on everything in the brexit party the same reason UKIP fell apart. fine while your focusing on a single issue but it’s about running the country not just brexit. unfortunately Farage has made a career of being a one trick pony
@James Doherty: Tis more useful than just running for nothing and wasting money yourself in
@James Doherty: Tis more useful than just running for nothing and wasting money on a campaign for a constituency if you’ve no hope in winning and will end up just hurting yourself by hurting the party closest to you. Tis the way it works in FPTP “democracies”
@WillKeepTheW: Nice recovery.
@James Doherty: The issue is more to do with how they use a first past the post vote counting system rather than proportional representation. Like
they mentioned by splitting the leave vote the libdems could take a lot of seats
So a super simple example below in a conservative constituency. Left labour out for arguments sake
Scenario 1: Tories: 30%, Brexit Party: 30%, Libdems: 40% (Libdems win)
Scenario 2: Tories 60%, Libdems 40% (tories win)
In scenario 1 the libdems win even though a majority of the constituents vote for “leave parties”
People’s vote will be adhered to now. Democracy wins. EU looses…
@Willy Mc Bride: Lets hope so Willy. Democracy must not go the way of Ireland where referendum result are overturned by the Brussels mob.
@John: change the record you two
@Willy Mc Bride: EU loses?
@Willy Mc Bride: a RussianTROLL
@eddie horgan: looooosers ;)
@Willy Mc Bride: Is that you Donald?
@Willy Mc Bride: democracy wins…but it’s the UK that will lose.
@Willy Mc Bride:
Congrats on joining Twitter in September… How did you find it… You are posting daily now.. Wow what a ramp up, you are commenting multiple times a day, all anti-establishment stuff…
John below you joined at the same time… Great lads…
Any way lads, how is the weather in Moscow?
@John: where and when did the ‘Brussels mob’ overturn the result of an irish referendum? Links and sources please.
@Willy Mc Bride: if so pretty sure the UK loses too but guess we’ll see.
@Conoroconnor: as if the initial Irish rejection of Nice and Lisbon was ever going to be allowed..
@John: Your beloved England choked at the Rugby world cup.
@Val Doyle: But that was in the final.Beating New Zealand on the way.I will leave it there.
What happened to his promise that the Brexit Party would contest every seat. More lies from this fool I suppose.
@Joe Johnson: the Brexit party appears to be be a democratic entity, as it doesn’t let one man at the top dictate the policy.
Many senior Brexit Party candidates and members (themselves former Tories) voiced concern over running against the Tories.
Big moment. Labour in serious trouble with this. If a second referendum is the objective then logically labour should enter that ‘Remain Alliance’ pact. However that’s highly unlikely as labour continue to try and appease both reminders and leavers.
@John McSweeney: Suits labour as it will just dilute the brexit vote between brexit party and the conservatives
@Radioska: No it won’t – that would only happen if they were running candidates in the same constituency, which they’re not.
@Radioska: Not the brightest i see.
@John: he’s right..in constituencies with sitting labour MPs the Brexit vote will split between consevative and Brexit party..Labour vote will remain relatively intact with result that labour mp is re-elected… parliament in stalemate again.
@SF Knee Knockers: brexit party said they wont run against conservatives so no split vote
@ed w: sorry @ sf knee knockers the vote will be split where there isnt a sitting Tory mp. my bad
@John: Choker
This is a bad day for those who oppose democracy. Brexit is a certainty now and Boris has played a blinder.
@John: we have to stop calling him Boris- he’s not our mate- This informal approach suggests familiarity and lends forgiveness for his silly ramblings – eg: Muslims / letterbox quote- there we all are – oh it’s just Boris. Mr Johnson or PM please. Look where “Bertie” got us!
@angie: if he used his full name he would lose a lot of votes
@bmul: exactly! WE should not fan the flames tho and buy into the “good old Boris” persona. With Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, never mind Jacob Reese Moog on side : we’re all doomed if he wins.
@John: johns a bot lads.. just throws in a random meaningless soundbyte about democracy and thats how you do it. breixt boris blinder rhyme to follow up with a bit of aliteration effect after – bish bash bosh. its basically the sun in bot form. there is a good few on this thread by the way. skewing public opinion and manipulating minds big time
Lots of bots about in the comments today I see
@Paul Lee: Lots of claims of bots in the comments sections today. The narrative must be failing.
@Paul Lee: run to your buzz words when that’s all you have left.
Did loyalist paramilitaries have word with Farage too?….
This is wonderful news. For the UK and the countries of Europe (including Ireland).
@J. Reid: It is crucial that Brexit happens in an orderly manner. To this end, Mr Farage’s Brexit Party should also not stand in any marginal constituencies where the pro-Brexit-deal Conservative Party has a realistic chance of gaining a seat from the far-left (and anti-Semitism enabling) Jeremy Corbyn’s pro-uncertainty Labour Party.
Hard Brexit it definatly is then. With no vasaline.
@Shayne O’Donoghue: I hope so, we should go with them.
@Eamon McGowan: If they end up with a Canada + we’d be mad not to.
Labour will have to sh#t or get of the pot either they are remainers or leavers
I love Nigel, he’s a bit like ourselves with his pint and his fag, always up for a bit of crack.
@Eamon McGowan: craic or crack ?
@Tim Oconnell: Crack. Craic is just a contrived. neologism.
Trump must be supplying the crack too. Within a week of the trumpet calling on Boris and Farage to link up, the deal is sealed.
@Angela McCarthy: What with all this Russian collusion maybe we have a U.S. collusion? Is that just as bad me wonders?
@colm mc sweeney: what, like Obama interfering in the Brexit referendum to support a Remain vote?
@Valthebear: YES exactly!! Why all the noise about Russia when the U.S. do it openly?
Apparently offered peerage bu the Tories 48 hours earlier, rotten to the core
He is one liar. He couldn’t walk a straight line. The reality is he win a seat anywhere in the UK with first past the post.
Utter bluffer
have your say