The Brexit Party leader claimed he is not running because he would “serve the cause better” by supporting his party’s 600 candidates on the campaign trail. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn branded the decision “a bit weird”, given the party intends to stand in most constituencies. The real reason for Mr Farage’s decision could be his humiliating past defeats, though.

The former Ukip leader has stood for Parliament unsuccessfully seven times, but the last time he ran – in South Thanet in 2015 – must have stung the most.

Despite winning 32 percent of the vote, he lost to Conservative Craig Mackinlay – a Ukip defector.

Mr Mackinlay was Ukip’s founding treasurer in 1993, Vice-Chairman and stood as a candidate in the 1997 General Election.

He stood to be leader in 1997, but lost to Michael Holmes, who was backed by Mr Farage.

However, Mr Holmes appointed Mr Mackinlay his deputy leader, a position he held until after the European Parliament election in 1999.

Mr Mackinlay stood for Parliament as a Ukip candidate unsuccessfully again in 2001 and 2005 – and stood in the European Elections in 1994, 1999 and 2004.

He defected to the Tories in 2005 and was elected as a councillor in 2007 and 2011.

Then, he was elected as a Conservative MP for South Thanet, beating Mr Farage, who was Ukip leader at the time.

After this devastating defeat, Mr Farage stepped down as leader of the party.

According to 2016 book ‘The Bad Boys of Brexit’, Mr Farage felt “battered” by his failure to win a seat again after a “gruelling” election campaign. 

The author of the book is former Ukip donor and Leave.EU founder Arron Banks, who worked closely with Mr Farage during the election campaign and the EU referendum campaign in 2016.

Mr Banks described the race for South Thanet as one of the “most bitterly contested” and insisted it was “not a fair fight”.

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In January this year, a Conservative Party official was found guilty of falsifying election expenses after becoming “carried away by her own conviction” that Mr Farage must be beaten.

Tory employee Marion Little was convicted of intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence at Southwark Crown Court.

 Meanwhile, Mr Mackinlay was cleared of breaking electoral spending laws, as was his election agent Nathan Gray. 

They had been accused of being part of a group of Tory activists who spent twice the legal limit in election expenses on staffing, hotels and advertising.

Ms Little received a nine-month suspended sentence and fined £5,000. 

Mr Farage told The Guardian that the verdict would reinforce the idea that the political system is skewed towards helping larger, richer parties.

He said: “Poor electoral law combined with an ineffective electoral commission mean that the ‘big party political’ cartel can carry on acting with impunity.

“It makes the disconnect between voters and their leaders even wider.”

Expenses violations notwithstanding, Mr Farage’s defeat to a former Ukip candidate must have been deeply embarrassing.

It could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back after seven failed attempts to enter Parliament – perhaps the Brexit Party leader cannot stand the idea of potentially losing again, instead preferring to help fresh faces in their campaigns.

This could explain the “weird” decision not to stand in an election as leader of a party that won the most number of seats in the European Parliament elections in May.

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