Brexit Party members turn on 'traitor' Nigel Farage after pact with Boris
Brexit Party members are turning on Nigel Farage after he announced a ‘Leave alliance’ with Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.
Mr Farage is standing down 317 Brexit Party candidates in Tory held seats in what is being seen as a major boost for Mr Johnson’s election hopes.
There has been concern among Leave campaigners that a pro-Brexit vote would be split by the Tories and the Brexit party, which could allow Labour or the Lib Dems to win.
Mr Farage said he made the decision after watching a video of the Prime Minister vowing not to extend a Brexit transition period, which is due to end in December 2020.
But it has sparked widespread anger among party members and candidates who have been stood down from the race.
A local group in Milton Keynes was so incensed at being denied their ‘democratic right to vote’ they branded their leader a ‘traitor’ in a black and white picture, and instructed members to ‘vent their anger’ to party headquarters.
Brexit Party MEP Alexandra Phillips, who was due to stand as a candidate in the Tory seat of Southampton Itchen before Mr Farage’s announcement, has declared she will ‘not vote at all’ at the election.
The South East MEP tweeted: ‘I have been disenfranchised by my own party.’
Robert Wheal, who had been due to fight in the Arundel and South Downs constituency, said Mr Farage was ‘finished as a politician’ following the climb-down.
He tweeted: ‘All that Farage has exposed is his duplicity to so many supporters who had put their faith in him.’
The party had been due to hold a meeting at Church House in Westminster on Tuesday but a spokesman confirmed it was ‘not happening’.
He said the party had ‘already said what we needed to say’ during Mr Farage’s speech in Hartlepool.
The Brexit Party’s focus, following Monday’s decision, will now shift to contesting Labour seats and those held by Remain-supporting MPs.
It allows the party to concentrate its attention on Midlands and Northern seats with high Leave turnouts.
But the party has insisted it continues to hold target seats in the South still, despite pulling the Westminster rally at the last minute.
Mr Farage’s campaign troops will continue to canvass in Labour-held constituencies such as Dagenham and Rainham (69 per cent Leave vote) and Barking (60 per cent Leave vote) in east London, officials confirmed.
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