The Brexit Party will not run candidates in any of the 317 seats the Conservatives won in 2017, Nigel Farage has said. In a move that Farage insists will shore up Tory MPs at risk from the resurgent Liberal Democrats, he will instead concentrate his campaigning efforts in Labour-held seats such as Hartlepool, where he made this afternoon’s announcement.
Though the Brexit Party leader had made a good fist of at least appearing defiant in the face of accusations that he would split the Leave vote and deliver a hung parliament in the event he made good on his promise to run 632 candidates, a u-turn along today’s lines looked increasingly inevitable as this Thursday’s deadline for nominating candidates drew closer.
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