UK Election: Nigel Farage Withdraws Hundreds of Candidates; Move to Boost PM Johnson’s Conservatives
Farage: “The Brexit Party will not contest the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election.”
In a massive boost to Prime Minister Boris Johnson-led British Conservatives, Nigel Farage has pulled hundreds of Brexit Party candidates ahead of the December 12 election. The Brexit Party will not field candidates in all 317 seats that the ruling Conservative party won in the last general election.
“The Brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election,” Farage said. “We will concentrate our total effort into all 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 fight them all.”
Farage, who announced last week that he was not standing for election himself, had been campaigning to get Brexit Party candidates elected to the next parliament. After today’s announcement, he is expected to concentrate on pro-EU lawmakers from the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party contesting from vulnerable seats.
British newspaper The Independent reported the Brexit Party leader’s unexpected climbdown:
Nigel Farage has sensationally backed down on his threat to stand Brexit Party general election candidates in every constituency across Britain, announcing the party will not fight the 317 seats won by Tories in 2017.
The move, which he termed a “unilateral Leave alliance”, represents a massive boost for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in the battle for the 12 December general election, removing the danger that they might lose seats by splitting the pro-Brexit vote. However it could mean Tories face a tough battle to pick up Labour-held seats, where traditional supporters of Jeremy Corbyn’s party who support Leave will have the option of voting for the Brexit Party.
Responding to the announcement, Mr Johnson told Sky News he had “absolutely not” done a deal with Farage, adding: “I’m glad that there is a recognition that there is only one way to get Brexit done and that is to vote for us and to vote for the Conservatives.”
The announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Johnson promised a Brexit by 2020 and to secure a Canada-style trade deal with the European Union. Johnson welcomed Farage’s “recognition that another gridlocked hung Parliament is the greatest threat to getting Brexit done,” adding that “only a Conservative majority can get Brexit done by the end of January with a deal that’s agreed and ready to go.”
The Brexit Party had the potential of costing Prime Minister Johnson the election, a “wargaming” simulation conducted by the Daily Telegraph concluded on Monday. The newspaper predicted, “Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party could decide [the] election by denying Conservatives 90 extra seats.”
Johnson’s Conservatives, who hold a comfortable lead over their main rival the Labour party, have seen the victory margin narrow in recent weeks. The pro-EU Liberal Democrats and the Greens have floated a “Remain Alliance” to thwart Brexit in case the Tory’s fail to secure a majority in next month’s election.
Farage’s election decision paves the way for a decisive Conservative victory. Johnson now has to stand firm on his key promise to withdraw the country from the EU and mobilize the unified pro-Brexit vote.
Nigel Farage stands down hundreds of Brexit Party candidates
[Cover image via YouTube]
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Ron Coleman
Comments
This is a nothing move. Where the Conservatives need to out perform the enemy is in the areas labour currently holds but by continuing to run candidates in those areas does mean the leave vote gets syphoned off and just guarantees labour holding those seats.
mailman, can you explain further? It’s not clear to me what you mean.
Brexit Party is only refusing to contest seats currently held by Tories. Seats the Tories need to gain, however, Brexit will still contest, including seats where staunch pro-Brexit Conservative Party candidates are on the ballot.
Result: Boris Johnson keeps the seats he has, but may have trouble gaining new ones because the anti-Remain vote gets split and — due to “first past the post” — the Labourites have an easier time holding those seats.
Yea, That I understand, although it’s not clear to me that conservatives can win additional seats now held by labour. But I take your point, the Brexit vote *might* get split. This is where a case by case analysis of each seat should be made. If the tories have a weak candidate, put a strong one up.
OTOH, British politics are baffling.
I suppose Farage wants the Conservatives to withdraw their candidates for those seats, reasoning that if they can’t win them, let Brexit party try.
Seems reasonable: Conservatives run for seats they have, Brexit party runs for the rest and maybe has a better chance at them.
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