NIGEL Farage has told Rishi Sunak he would “under no circumstances” do a deal to stand his candidates down – blasting years of Tory betrayal on Brexit and immigration.
The new Reform leader insisted there would be no pact similar to what he struck with Boris Johnson in 2019.
RexNigel Farage said Labour has ‘already won’ the election and voters should choose something they ‘really believe in’[/caption]
The leading Brexiteer said the Tories had already lost the election and were a “party of the past”.
He said there wouldn’t be an agreement where he stood down hundreds of Brexit Party candidates to allow Boris Johnson to win a stinking 80-seat majority.
When asked if he would stand aside for Tories, he told the BBC: “Nope. There are no circumstances whatsoever.
“We have been betrayed by a Conservative Party that I gave considerable help to back in 2019 and boy did I.
“I got rid of Mrs May by forming the Brexit Party and they had their most crushing defeat in 200 years.
“I stood aside in over 300 seats for Boris Johnson and we were told that we would get control of our borders, we were told the immigration numbers would come down. They have exploded.
“I feel betrayed by them, millions of voters feel betrayed by them and even though there are some people in the Conservative Party who I fought with during Brexit and other battles, I am afraid they are part of a party who are well past their sell-by date.
“The brand is ruined, they have lost the election already.”
KICKED IN THE BALLOTS: FARAGE’S ELECTON DEFEATS
By THOMAS GODFREY, News Reporter
NIGEL Farage has had seven previous attempts at winning a seat in the House of Commons but has failed every time.
His first bid came in 1994 while UKIP was a small protest vote party – with the ex-broker losing his deposit after winning a pitiful 1.7% of the vote.
His fortunes continued to improve as the movement to leave the European Union gathered momentum, but even in 2015, a year before Brexit, he failed to beat the Tories to win the South Thanet seat despite turning in his best electoral performance to date.
KICKED IN THE BALLOTS – FARAGE ELECTION DEFEATS
1994 Eastleigh by-election – 952 votes (1.7%) – 4th
1997 General Election (Salisbury) – 3,332 (5.7%) – 4th
2001 General Election (Bexhill and Battle) – 3,474 (7.8%) – 4th
2005 General Election (Thanet South) – 2,079 (5%) – 4th
2006 Bromley by-election – 2,347 (8.1%) – 3rd
2010 General Election (Buckingham) – 8,410 (17.4%) – 3rd
2015 General Election (South Thanet) – 16,026 (32.4%) – 2nd
Meanwhile, Home Secretary James Cleverly said he was surprised by Mr Farage standing at the election
He told Sky News: “The last time I heard him make reference to Clacton, he was saying that he didn’t want to spend every Friday in Clacton.
“Reform has always been a vehicle for Nigel Farage’s self-promotion, I think Richard Tice is now discovering that rather painfully.”
ANALYSIS: This is the Tories’ worst-case scenario
By HARRY COLE, Political Editor
WHAT a difference a weekend makes.
It was only last week the now-leader of Reform UK sat in the Never Mind The Ballots studio and said he would sit this one out – he wasn’t going to run.
Now he is running, in Clacton, in Essex. The only seat that UKIP, or The Brexit Party, or the Farage-istas ever held.
This will send chills down the spines of Tory strategists.
Their worst-case scenario was Nigel Farage sweeping back in, standing and possibly winning a seat.
Their second worst-case scenario was Nigel Farage sweeping across the country, in an open-top bus, campaigning all over the place.
It sounds like now, he is going to try and do both.
He has declared today that it is his goal to take over and wipe out the Conservative Party, and make Reform the biggest voice on the right.
He says he will win millions of votes – millions more votes than UKIP won in 2015, at the peak of their powers. He wants to go further.
This is an astonishing day in the election campaign – and it was all getting a bit dull.
This is really, really bad news for Rishi Sunak, but really, really good news for Keir Starmer.
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