Brexit Party will not contest five Gloucestershire seats in the General Election
- by Lorene Schwartz
- in People
- — Nov 17, 2019
Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage changed course Monday, announcing that his party would not challenge Conservative candidates in almost half of the U.K.'s districts, a tactical move that may make it easier for pro-Brexit forces to prevail in the December 12 election.
Mr Farage announced that his new party that claimed 14 of the 73 seats in this year's European Elections, will not stand candidates against the 317 incumbent Conservative MPs.
"I'm not going to turn around and say "Vote for this party, vote for that party" - I would always say "Vote for my own party" which, in certain seats, can't happen now". "I gifted them a couple of dozen seats".
"Voters in Guildford will still have a choice between a party which wants to force us to leave (Conservatives), a party which wants to force us to stay (Lib Dems), and the Labour Party which will give voters a well-informed choice on the best possible deal".
"It is clear to me it is not a Leave majority they want in Parliament, it is just a Tory one", he remarked.
The letter said: "Your only major domestic policy, apart from constitutional issues such as Proportional Representation and the abolition of the House of Lords, is the cancellation of HS2".
The result of this targetting will likely be, as Farage fully intends, another hung parliament, with no chance of a coalition Lab/Lib government pushing through a second referendum but no chance of Boris Johnson's deal getting through either.
"I thought to myself overnight that actually sounds a bit more like the Brexit that we voted for", said Farage, 55.
"I couldn't vote for those who are standing in my constituency in all good conscience", she said.
He called Farage's decision to not contest Tory-held seats a "disgrace to politics".
"We will now not see Brexit because of Conservative back room deals."
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Holmes is scheduled to testify before House impeachment investigators in a closed-door session on Friday. Lieu says two other people heard the call as well, and said there were four people at the lunch.
He would dispute that, of course.
Addressing media and Brexit Party activists in Hartlepool, north-east England, Farage explained that he had been heartened by the words of Boris Johnson on Sunday night.
Wayne Bayley had been due to stand in Crawley, West Sussex, at the upcoming General Election.
But Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake, responding to the reports that the pro-Brexit European Research Group held talks with the Brexit Party over Mr Farage's decision to stand down candidates, said: 'These talks show that Nigel Farage is pulling the strings behind the scenes.
"It's putting Nigel before the country". So many people around here are so let down on Brexit.
He added: "All that Farage has exposed is his duplicity to so many supporters who had put their faith in him".
"We have made a unilateral, strategically important decision for the country", he told The Associated Press.
The Brexit Party will not contest the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election.
The Brexit Party has been accused of jeopardising the closure of the North-South divide by "profiting at the ballot box with popular rhetoric".
Others who have declared they will run for the Bury seat are independent Liam Byrne, Conservative Jo Churchill, who has won the seat twice, independent Paul Hopfensperger and Labour's Cliff Waterman. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
