Nigel Farage confirms he won’t stand as MP in general election

Nigel Farage will not be standing in the upcoming general election, claiming he can help push Brexit through more effectively outside of Parliament.

The Brexit Party leader, who has failed to become an MP on seven previous occasions, said he could better serve the cause by ‘traversing the length and breadth’ of the UK campaigning, instead of canvassing in one constituency.

Mr Farage, a current Member of the European Parliament, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I’ve thought very hard about this – how do I serve the cause of Brexit best, because that’s what I’m doing this for.

‘Do I find a seat to try get myself into parliament or do I serve the cause better traversing the length and breadth of the United Kingdom supporting 600 candidates, and I’ve decided the latter course is the right one.’

The former UKIP leader added that it would be ‘very difficult to do both’.

On Friday, Mr Farage threatened to field Brexit Party candidates ‘in every seat’, if Boris Johnson did not scrap his Brexit deal.

Asked about a possible pact with the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party, Mr Farage said this morning: ‘I’ve wanted for months for there to be a Leave alliance.

‘It seems obvious to me that no one party can own Brexit voters – there are Tory Brexit voters, there are Brexit Party Brexit voters and a lot of Labour Brexit voters.

‘I always thought that to win an election, get a big majority so we can get a proper Brexit, a coming together would be the objective.

‘I still hope and pray it happens but it doesn’t look like it will.’

He went on to say that the Conservatives’ Brexit plan is not ‘genuine’ and is ‘not Brexit’.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump also criticised the Prime Minister’s deal, during a controversial interview with Mr Farage on his LBC show.

The US President said the plan would stop a trade deal between the two countries and encouraged Mr Farage to form a pact with Mr Johnson – an idea which the PM has since rejected.

And, in an unusual break with protocol, Mr Trump said Jeremy Corbyn would be ‘so bad’ as prime minister. Mr Farage previously criticised ex-President Barack Obama’s ‘monstrous interference’ in a British election.

Mr Farage added: ‘I promise you one thing: if Boris was going for a genuine Brexit, then we wouldn’t need to fight him in this election.’

But Treasury Minister Rishi Sunak hit back at the criticism of the deal, telling the same programme: ‘I campaigned for Leave, I spent a lot of time talking to my constituents and others across the North East and in Yorkshire – what do they want from Brexit?

‘They want to end free movement and replace it with a points system, they want to end the fact that money keeps going to the EU year after year, they want to make sure we’re in control of our laws, and also they want us to have an independent trade policy. These are all things the Prime Minister’s deal deliver.’