The announcement by Nigel Farage, the leader of The Brexit Party (TBP), that they would not stand in 317 Conservative Party held seats, will be viewed with bewilderment by many.
It is a significant boost for the Conservative Party, with seemingly nothing offered in return to TBP.
There appear to have been pressures put on Nigel Farage from a variety of moneyed organisations and individuals, and he seems to have caved into these.
Some of these pressures came from key figures in TBP and there have been rumours for some time, that they might undertake some form of retreat on the number of seats contested.
Indeed, numerous TBP candidates were told to defer putting their nomination forms in.
Alongside this, the continuous overtures he made to the Conservative Party did not help the sense of uncertainty which was building up with TBP supporters about what was going on.
Many potential supporters held back from offering to help TBP candidates because they were uncertain about the direction of the party’s election strategy.
This announcement by Nigel Farage has only confirmed such fears.
How much was Nigel Farage trusted
To add to all of this, it is important to bear in mind that many Brexit supporters do not actually trust Nigel Farage and feel he has always put his own interests above those of achieving Brexit.
The fact that Nigel Farage decided not to stand himself in this Election, only served to add to the warning signs about his seriousness in fielding 600 candidates who could actually form an alternative or coalition government.
Then further worries built up when the main television media offered party leaders’ debates which TBP were excluded from, and it appeared that Nigel Farage did little to contest this decision.
On Remembrance Day – TBP discarded candidates – dumped like dispensable foot soldiers in a strategic battle
As for this Election, at such short notice, it will be a difficult task indeed for UKIP to fill this gaping hole left by TBP. There will certainly be hundreds of very unhappy TBP candidates, who had already committed time, money and effort into their own individual campaigns, only to be let down at the final hour. Ironic, on Remembrance Day, to make this announcement.
Who will remember them? These committed people who stood up for their country and for service to TBP, who were discarded and forgotten? Just foot soldiers to be sacrificed in a game of strategic power?
What about this decision by Nigel Farage? Because of the structure of TBP, it is very difficult for him as the party leader not to get what he decides on. Undoubtedly he will have discussed this with others, but the bottom line is his party’s constitution allows very limited democratic control. TBP leader has huge powers with limited checks and balances. It is a huge disadvantage for TBP over other political parties.
Sensible negotiation is worthy – capitulation is not
Most seasoned political observers would see it as logical for TBP to try some electoral pact negotiations with other parties, especially with the first past the post electoral system we have for Parliamentary elections. At first, it seemed that TBP was going to seek clean break Brexit commitments from candidates of all political parties. That was logical and fair. Then it moved on to what was seen as blatant begging to the Conservative party. There were supposed “red lines,” which then were quickly abandoned, one after another. Finally, Nigel Farage completely caved into the Conservatives, achieving absolutely nothing for TBP.
It is clear that he should never be invited to join any Brexit negotiating team, as his skills in that area seem somewhat lacking!
There is nothing wrong with sensible electoral pacts.
The LibDems, the Greens and Plaid Cymru have agreed on one involving 67 seats in England and Wales. The objective is to have “Remain” supporting MP’s elected in those constituencies. It is a logical and well thought out pact from their point of view.
The point is that Nigel Farage has done nothing of the sort in respect of having “Leave” supporting MP’s elected.” He has unilaterally withdrawn 3017 TBP candidates.
It is unprecedented in British electoral history.
Most Conservative MPs were Remainers.
Most of them may have voted for Boris Johnson’s so-called “deal,” but that does not make them Leavers. It does not guarantee how they will vote in any future Parliamentary Brexit debate.
It does not even stop them going into coalition with the Libdems again ( not at all impossible), if that suits the Conservative party after the election.
Being so closely linked to the Conservative party could damage TBP
This decision by Nigel Farage will be seen as TBP acting as a sort of attack wing of the Conservative party, and not a party in its own independent right.
They will be seen as favouring the Conservatives in philosophy, which is not necessarily a good thing, because achieving Brexit should be seen as one which transcends party political boundaries.
They will also be seen as abandoning any political ambition to be a major political party in the UK, which will disappoint many who wanted real change in British politics.
It will also be seen as support for the domestic and foreign policies of the Conservative government, many of which are very unpopular with the British public.
There are many such policies of the Labour and LibDem parties which the Brexit supporting public finds attractive.
This is a General Election for five years about all issues and not just Brexit.
In Labor-held seats, this pro-Conservative announcement may actually go against TBP candidates. They could previously argue that they were no more against Labour than Conservative, but no longer.
In these areas, the Conservative candidates will still be standing, so it likely that this decision will increase their votes and decrease those of TBP.
This decision does not make strategic sense for a party that wants to be part of the future British political scene.
It is ironic that Nigel Farage stated that one reason for his decision was that he did not want a hung Parliament, yet one his key MEPs, Ann Widdecombe, said she hoped for a hung Parliament where TBP held the balance of power. Nigel Farage also argued that the British public voted for a Canada style free trade deal. They did nothing of the sort. They voted to leave the EU, full stop.
The other political parties are having a field day with this announcement.
It will be damaging to TBP as they will be perceived as not being ambitious to aim for significant political power. It is a major blow to the Brexit movement.
It is interesting that in his speech, Nigel Farage re-iterated all the key disadvantages of the Boris Johnson “deal,” and then proceeded to support this “deal” by backing the Conservatives.
The time to make effective deals is when you have MP’s in Parliament, not before and not make it more difficult to obtain such MP’s.
Genuine Brexit supporters will feel very let down by TBP withdrawing from half the British constituencies. Recently, there has been one “Brexit” public figure after another disappointing us and “letting the side down.” With TBP, people have given numerous donations. Would they have done so if they had known what would happen? What is happening with their money?
At times like this, it is worthwhile remembering Kipling’s words from his famous patriotic poem, “If.” Especially these lines:
“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
And so hold on when there’s nothing in you
Except the will which says to them “Hold On.”
as a life long tory voter I will not be voting if there is no brexit candidate in my area. I support leave but Doris’s deal is anything but that
Further to my last post I entirely sympathise with Colin Hussey and his annoyance. However, if he had concentrated his efforts under a local constituency-based Independent label his efforts could not have been cancelled by the “leadership”. I urge him and others to contact me via the e-mail address on my other comment. If we are going to get our country back we have to destroy the party system which is responsible for the mess. Read my stuff so you understand WHY.
There are still 24 hours to go before nominations close tomorrow.
In view of the contemptuous response by the Tories to Nigel’s incredibly generous, not to say profligate, “unilateral” gesture, at this point Nigel could recover all his lost ground by saying, to the Tories:
“You could have responded by standing your candidates down in constituencies where you have never had a hope, so as to give us a free run, and helping to ensure that those constituencies would return a genuine Brexiteer instead of a Corbynista. Instead you have greedily asked for us to stand down even more of our candidates.
“This convinces us that your sole aim is not Brexit at all, and that your promises not to grant further extensions and not to allow any regulatory alignment in a future FTA, cannot be relied upon.
“Boris Johnson is clearly now simply a warmed-up version of T’reason May.
“We are therefore REINSTATING ALL OUR 600 CANDIDATES, and calling on the electorate to vote for us again as they did for the EU Parliamentary election in March, and not for the Tories who are revealed now as a fake Brexiteer party. It is now clear that if you vote BoJo, you get Barnier.”
If Nigel does not react strongly in a manner like this, we will have to conclude that the explanation for his cave-in is that he came under pressure, probably financial from his backer Arron Banks, and just gave in. He has always said that you cannot do politics on a shoe-string. And he who pays the piper calls the tune. What a sad way to go.
Vote Bojo get Barnier.
Got a ring to it. I like it!
The Brexit Party may have had 600 candidates but I very much doubt if they have the resources to field and support that many candidates, better to go for fewer seats and concentrate their efforts. It is obvious that the Tories are scared stiff of having Brexit Party MPs in Parliament, just as they were scared stiff of having UKIP MPs in Parliament. Nothing must be allowed to rock the comfortable political boat!
My disappointment is difficult to deal with.
It is not just a missed opportunity to send an immense message to the politicians to listen to those who vote, but it is also a missed opportunity to give people someone to vote for.
Nevertheless there is some reason behind what Farage has said in his speech. Does this give the Tories a clear chance to do the right thing?
In the end it will be a question of trust of faith that there is some common sense.
I read a report recently of GP hours in the NHS, more important than just head count where many young GPs work part time. Do they work part time because they can afford to, of course, another indictment of our sick culture and greed, But the Conservatives have been promising for at least the last two elections that GP numbers would be increased. Yet another broken promise, and so it goes on.
I must say I want to be positive, but as it appears for many of you it is very hard.
The truth is I believe that anyone in the LibLabCon Party cannot be trusted. Here we are playing this silly game apparently with no choice, certainly less now.
My only conclusion and course of action is information and education. It won’t be done by the MSM, but must be done by ordinary patriotic individuals. An Association of the Concerned. If I can I will produce my own Leaflets and distribute them. There is no chance of running as a candidate it is expensive. After this GE is over I believe I can put a point of view or a factual assessment without the need of an imprint as there will not be an electoral motive, advice can be sought.
If we are to combat ignorance we must inform. If we are to combat apathy we must persuade. If we are to create resistance we must inspire. There is a lot we can do and it looks as though we are going to be given more time to do it.
Why don’t these 317 TBP candidates told not to stand, non-comply with the order and stand regardless?
To the 317 – sod Nigel and stand as Independents. What better way to change the face of Parliament!
Most definitely!
Absolutely right, Jake. I’ll be standing as an independent in Scotland, TBP having rejected me as a candidate many months ago without explanation.
I have always thought TBP was set up to help the Tory party survive ; an “oppposition” which they could control, and one which they used to destroy UKIP.
And they have almost succeeded in doing that but they can always come back to Ukip, it is still hanging on in there and fielding candidates.
I have been trying to persuade patriots to ditch the party idea since as long as I can remember. Why? Because the constitutional requirements (Electoral Commission) and party policy are a minefield of possibility for paralysis, as we he seen with UKIP. Since the attack on our nationhood comes from the EU and mass immigration, and UKIP forbade discrimination it is a clever trick to allow one but not the other. Therefore the party system is a control system controlling what policy you may or may not support.
The next point is that the party system is the “revolution against the English constitution”. The very thing we are trying to restore. The Party System cancels the prerogative of the Crown to appoint the Ministers of the Crown, cancels the Coronation Oath and the Act of Settlement because the “convention” of the party system is that the Monarch acts as advised by the Prime Minister.
But the Monarch once had a contract with the people under the Coronation Oath Act 1688 until it was neutralised by the party system.. To join any party simply supports the revolution even if you don’t yet understand why.
The other major point is that we all have different points of view and I think it far safer to have 650 patriotic loosely-linked units. Since, with the appointment of Ministers of the Crown restored to the Monarch, the 650 patriotic groups supply an Independent and the party system vanishes. A party candidate represents his party, not the voters. It is as obvious as that. The Independent only has one master, his constituents,.
Of course, the sceptical reader will say “the Independent will never get in”. The sceptic does not realise that the Independent has a massive tool at his disposal, given the unpopularity of the party politicians and the fact that the voters pay the party candidate wages but the party tells them how to vote!!!
If the reader thinks about it, to vote for a party means that you have no other choice but to accept/consent to the system of manifesto “packages”. The UKIP/TBP supporter does not seem to realise that by consenting to this system of manifestos another party like Labour can gain power because Labour supporters vote for one or two items and the rest, like MASS IMMIGRATION, are automatic. Even worse,once a party has gained a “MAJORITY” AND TOTAL POWER SOME POLICY NOT MENTIONED IN THE MANIFESTO CAN BE IMPLEMENTED and there is nothing you can do. The Party System is about unashamedly gaining POWER and it should not be as that is not the constitution, The constitution is the division of power!!! I hope that far more people will contact me. john.cruttwell@sfr.fr
Martin,
The party system is severely distorted in its effects not by its own nature (you’ll never get rid of the spirit of parties), but by the facts of First Past The Post.
Mercifully the MSM have finally brought talking in terms of the distorting effects of FPTP into the Overton window, leading to groups of parties making alliances which effectively mirror what goes on in other democratic countries, albeit at election time. Hope springs again that we will action another referendum on Proportional Representation, as most people can see now how limiting FPTP really is. The only party who are dead against PR are the Tories, who after a couple of general elections would be down in size to parliamentary numbers truly reflecting their real support. What we have now are millions of voters choosing the Tory party to keep out Labour, especially now. But that’s not the way the re-elected Prime Minister will spin it, is it?
With PR, virtually EVERY vote counts, and so you can vote BP if you really want them, without fear of giving Labour another MP.
As a Brexit Party Constituency Campaign Coordinator, I was absolutely disgusted with the decision to pull 317 candidates from the General Election campaign, including the PPC in my Kent constituency. As with other CCC’s I have spent the last six months building up the activist base here in my constituency so that we could support our PPC and run a decent campaign, and with very little support from the party itself who declined to supply us with a list of ‘registered supporters’. The only names we were supplied with were those supporters who had volunteered their time to deliver leaflets and man street stalls etc. Since yesterday’s decision made without informing the registered supporters first, I have received many e-mails and telephone calls from a number of our activists who are equally dismayed. As I have told them, this is what happens when an organisation/party such as the Brexit Party has ‘registered supporters’ and no formal membership. There has been no loyalty shown to those at constituency grass root level who have spent time, energy and money in promoting the ideals of the party, having their homes used as delivery hub, delivering leaflets, and organising and manning street stalls etc, and the party leadership do not feel any accountability to the supporters at large. I too, was a UKIP activist and a branch chairman until I resigned, and now feel totally let down by the Brexit Party who have proved themselves to be no better than any other party. Their strap line ‘Change Politics For Good’ has not been lived up to. Now, I wish I had not left UKIP.
Colin, you can always go back to Ukip, all is not lost.
Deborah, I am thinking very seriously of returning to the UKIP fold. As dysfunctional as UKIP became with its silly going on’s with umpteen useless leaders, it never treated its members and activists in the way that the Brexit Party has this week with its registered supporters and activists. I am totally disgusted with the whole issue. Now that I have seen David Kurten standing as a UKIP candidate in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, I feel that I want to assist in his campaign in any way that I can.
Too late for your candidate to stand as an Independent?
So instead of UKIP getting votes off leave-inclined Labour voters and the Brexit party getting votes off leave-inclined Conservatives we now have the Brexit party Toffs (genuine Conservatives I’ll grant you, not Tory fake conservatives) snobbing it around in Labour areas.
That’ll go well will it not!
The boys in Brussels must be ever-so-chuffed.
”Genuine Brexit supporters will feel very let down by TBP withdrawing from half the British constituencies. ….”
You can say that again.
If TBP had said it was only contesting Con seats where the incumbent was a proven Remainer, then I could have understood it. But this blanket ALL Con seats is outrageous. I had vowed never again to vote for our Con MP (a Remainer) and now I have no-one to vote for. My vote is effectively lost.
They have all been very clever at reducing our country to this – which will end in it being handed over to the EU lock, stock and barrel.
Kiplings If patriotic ? Not an appeal to our higher character beyond the sordid sell out of the Jameson Raid ?
Sound familiar ?
Phillip, sorry but Nigel deserves it, he has let the people that rushed to support him down badly.
Here’s an article by a disillusioned Brexit Party (now ex-) candidate:
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/how-could-farage-do-this-to-me-and-316-other-willing-candidates/
I allowed my Ukip membership to lapse deliberately. After standing for District and County Council elections I was elected as a County Councillor in 2013. The Ukip group elected had virtually no support or policy guidance from Ukip hq, despite many requests for training and assisting us to become effective councillors. I was disgusted at this lack of support. I have donated a small amount of money to TBP. After this latest let down I will not be able to vote for TBP in my present constituency and feel totally bewildered that Nigel should trust or support the duplicitous BJ and his henchmen. I remember the actions of Campbell-Bannerman who after getting elected as Ukip MEP then returned to his delighted Tory mates. I cannot even consider voting for any of the major parties now and if there is not a Ukip candidate I will deliberately spoil my voting paper. Democracy can now be found lying dead in the ditch occupying the place where the incumbent of no 10 declared he would be found if 31/10/19 did not see us released from the clutches of the foul EU. I no longer trust ANY politician of any persuasion.
Quite true Phillip – but of course we Brits are notorious for having very short political memories – which of course is why and how we have ended up with two dreadful ‘leaders’ as heads of our two major political Parties. It is laughable.
We seem incapable of recalling the days before the Referedumb. The solemn promises of Del Boy Cameron …. “we will reduce immigration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands”. Total bul*shit, deception and outright lies, current total around 250,000!
And how about that NOTORIOUS ‘publicly-paid-for’ ‘definitive’ promissory Leaflet?
Does ANYONE RECALL THE WORDING OF IT?
A once in a generation decision. “This is your decision. The Government will IMPLEMENT what you decide”.
Wanton treason by every self-seeking jackass sitting in those benches.
And then…….? You start castigating Nigel. Aim your ire at the mob who you are once more going out there to vote for…….MUGS!
We’ve been aiming our ire at the Tory Party for three and a half years. We’re now aiming it at Farage because he’s gone and ruddy well joined them!
Very dissapointed in Farage. Words fail me.
When you have spent sufficient (?) time pilloriing Farage…………….perhaps you wil examine the new ‘pledges’ ‘promises’ ‘bribes’ and ‘solemn statements’ of ALL of the Political Parties involved in the systematic betrayal of our country, prior to the coming election.
What about the promises, pledges and votes they cast and which they made to us in regard to Brexit? More particularly those of that ‘tramp’ Corbyn and the ‘clown’ Johnson. How have we ended up with these two nonentities?
Have you all forgotten (I fear you HAVE!) the solemn promises of that personification of deceit, Cameron.Immigration Numbers, and the pledge to carry out what the country decided.
The politicking of Nigel Farage – ON OUR BEHALF – pales into insignificance when compared with the duplicity of the Tories, and the childish, scruffy, bluster and confusion within the so-called LABOUR Party. Not a single working man or woman in sight, anywhere – truly labour/socialist heroes of the past, who served their country with honour, have been totally betrayed, from the time that the puppets of Miss Mandelson, Blair and Brown – connived to condemn and betray the work of true Socialists to the dustbin of history.
Give him a break………..try and engage your tactical brains before you touch the keys of your i.pad.
Talk is cheap – actions count.
I have felt unable to fully trust Farage since he bailed after the referendum, but hoped that this time he could be relied on as the only possible vote for those of us wanting a clean exit from the EU. Sadly he has done it again and I must conclude that Farage is for Farage; no other people or cause.
Nevertheless if a TBP candidate were to stand I would still feel it necessary to vote for him despite the risk of getting Corbyn. We need to stand firm and be counted if at all possible.
Taking a dig at Nigel seems to be in fashion just lately. I will not attempt to comment on all the points raised in this piece as it would take too long. However, I have been a UKIP member since 1995 and I can remember when Nigel used to speak to a couple of dozen people in the back room of a pub, when leaving the EU seemed to be just a fantasy. I have always trusted Nigel’s judgment and have believed in his utter sincerity in wanting us out of the EU. He now has to play politics at a higher level, but without his efforts over the decades none of this would have happened at all.
Quite!! They will all hang him out to dry if they can.
When you say “none of this would have happened at all” do you mean the fact that we will soon become an EU colony if the Tories, with Farage’s help, form the next government?
Nigel deserves it imo he has let us down big time!