Tories lined up to heap praise on
Nigel Farage after he stood down hundreds of
Brexit Party candidates to help
Boris Johnson clinch general
election victory.
Farage announced on Monday he would back a “Leave alliance” and that 317 would-be MPs will step aside to give the Conservatives a boost at the ballot box on December 12.
The Brexit Party will still challenge
Labour in the North and Midlands, but Farage said the move was calculated to inflict maximum damage on the Lib Dems, whose policy is to revoke Article 50. We are putting country before party. pic.twitter.com/O2MUynSqWH— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 11, 2019Farage said he was satisfied that Johnson was seeking a Canada-style free trade deal with the EU and would not extend the transition beyond 2020.
The move vastly increases the chance of a pro-Brexit majority emerging after the election and several Tories were quick to love-bomb Farage on social media.
Johnson insisted he had “absolutely not” called the ex-Ukip leader to agree a deal, but said in a tweet “we welcome Nigel Farage’s recognition that another gridlocked parliament is the greatest threat to getting Brexit done”. Only a Conservative majority can get Brexit done by the end of January with a deal that's agreed and ready to go. pic.twitter.com/u5BUvfG3Wk— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 11, 2019Walsall North Tory candidate Eddie Hughes thanked Farage and sent him “best wishes” from the pro-Leave constituency, where he would have faced a fight from Farage.
Tory stalwart Sir John Redwood said Farage had made a “good call” while Tim Montgomerie, formerly chief of staff to ex-Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, described Farage had “proved himself - first and foremost - a patriot”. Thank you Nigel.Best wishes from Walsall North. #Brexit— Eddie Hughes (@EddieHughes4WN) November 11, 2019Good news we are not fighting Brexit party in seats we won last time. Brexit party have made a good call on that . We both want to leave by December next year. Both want to base the future on a Free trade agreement.— John Redwood (@johnredwood) November 11, 2019We’ve all sometimes wondered if @Nigel_Farage wanted the spotlight too much but today he proved himself - first and foremost - a patriot https://t.co/olYq30yPHo— Tim Montgomerie (@montie) November 11, 2019Obviously I'm biased but @TiceRichard who has made the Brexit Party the professional outfit it is, deserves credit for helping @Nigel_Farage reach the right decision for this country— Isabel Oakeshott (@IsabelOakeshott) November 11, 2019Announcing the news, Farage, who faces further pressure to stand down other candidates, told a press conference: “Last night I weighed up Boris’ promises and is he going to stick to them against the threat particularly in the South and the South West that we let in a lot of Remainer Liberal Democrat MPs.”
Duncan Smith himself described Farage’s announcement as a “good thing” .
He told
BBC Radio 4’s the World at One programme: “Well I would hope that this is the start of the Brexit Party recognising that even standing across the board in those sort of seats will also end up helping those Labour incumbents who are sitting there worrying at the moment about the fact that they have a very, very large Leave vote, and if that is split, then that means they might just sneak through, which could be the difference between us winning a majority and only becoming the majority party and of course winning a majority is critical, if you want to deliver Brexit and Boris to stay.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the news was criticised by Labour and the Lib Dems. One week ago
Donald Trump told Nigel Farage to make a pact with Boris Johnson.Today, Trump got his wish.This Trump alliance is Thatcherism on steroids and could send £500 million a week from our NHS to big drugs companies. It must be stopped.—
Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 11, 2019The Conservative Party are the Brexit Party now. https://t.co/ijpWUUMDvh— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) November 11, 2019Related... Nigel Farage Axes Brexit Party Candidates Across The Country Brexit Party Stands Behind Candidate Who Plays In 'Nazi Vampire' Metal Band Breaking The Mould: The Gay Rights Campaigner Who Wants To Become A Brexit Party MP