- Nigel Farage has stood down Brexit Party candidates in all Conservative-held seats.
- Farage on Monday said he had made the decision in order to prevent a hung parliament dominated by Remain-supporting MPs.
- However, the party will still stand in the Labour seats the Conservatives need to win a majority.
- Farage changed his mind after Boris Johnson insisted he would not extend the Brexit transition period before the end of next year.
- The prime minister welcomed Farage’s decision.
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The Brexit Party will not contest any seats held by Boris Johnson’s Conservatives at the upcoming general election, their leader Nigel Farage announced on Monday afternoon.
Farage said that his party would stand aside in 317 seats across the United Kingdom which are held by Conservative incumbents, in order to prevent a hung parliament dominated by pro-European Union parties.
“If we do field 600 candidates, there will be a hung Parliament,” he said at a speech in Hartlepool, north east England.
“That is by far the most likely outcome. And that’s not something that people really want.”
Earlier this month, Farage said that the Brexit Party would contest every single seat across Britain if Johnson did not ditch his withdrawal deal with the EU and form a "Leave alliance" with the Brexit Party.
However, Johnson has repeatedly ruled out an electoral pact with Farage, and is campaigning on a core pledge to "get Brexit done" by securing parliamentary approval for his Brexit deal.
Despite this refusal, Farage said today that he had taken the "unilateral" decision to step aside in Conservative areas, following comments by Johnson that his government would not extend the Brexit transition beyond December 2020.
"He said something... that really did matter to me," Farage said at a press conference.
He also cited Johnson's pledge to negotiate a "super Canada trade deal" with the EU, with "no political alignment."
"That sounds a bit more like the Brexit we voted for," he said.
The Brexit Party will challenge the Labour Party and other "Remain parties" in the rest of the country, however.
The prime minister welcomed Farage's decision.
"We welcome Nigel Farage's recognition that another gridlocked hung parliament is the greatest threat to getting Brexit done," he said in a statement.
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, 2019
The opposition Labour party accused Johnson of going into an "alliance" with Farage.
"This is a Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson alliance with Donald Trump to sell out our country and send £500 million per week from our NHS to US drugs companies," Ian Lavery, Labour Party Chair said.
"We urge voters to reject this Thatcherite 1980s tribute act, which would lead to more savage Tory attacks on working class communities. Our NHS is not for sale."
Ed Davey, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the announcement "shows the Conservatives and the Brexit party are now one and the same."
Anti-Brexit campaigners accused Farage of having "bottled it".
"Farage has bottled it and hung most of his own candidates out to dry," the Best for Britain campaign chief executive Naomi Smith said.
"But by standing down Brexit Party candidates across the country, it's now more important than ever that Remainers use their votes wisely."
Most experts agree that Johnson's chances of securing a parliamentary majority on December 12 would be damaged if the Brexit Party decided to stand candidates in 600 seats, as Farage threatened to do earlier this month.
This is because Farage's party would likely secure the support of a significant number of Leave voters who otherwise would have voted for the Conservatives, and potentially cost Johnson a number of seats.
Farage's announcement on Monday is, therefore, a boost for the prime minister, who is hoping to win a majority in the election.
Johnson currently enjoys a comfortable lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party in the opinion polls.
However, the election has been dubbed the most unpredictable UK poll in decades, with a high number of seats set to change hands.
The Brexit Party also still intends to field candidates in Johnson's key target seats in Leave-voting areas of England and Wales.
