EXIT PARTY
Nigel Farage under fire from his OWN party as 20 election candidates quit and major donor switches support to Boris
NIGEL Farage was dealt a major blow yesterday as it was revealed that 20 Brexit Party election candidates have quit and a major donor switched sides to Boris Johnson.
It comes after Mr Farage bullishly confirmed he intended to run candidates in more than 600 constituencies.
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Two candidates withdrew over fears the Brexit Party could prevent Mr Johnson getting a majority, while a third dropped out for personal reasons.
Paul Brothwood, who stood down as the party's candidate in Dudley South and is now backing Mike Wood, told the Telegraph: "It feels good to be back in the Conservative family who are committed to delivering Brexit and I am confident that Boris Johnson is the best person to stand up for Britain.”
He claimed that as many as 10 per cent of the party's candidates could quit, and that "a number" of candidates had been removed from a local Brexit Party WhatsApp group .
In a parting shot he warned Mr Farage his strategy of challenging the Tories across the country is "very dangerous" and risks letting Mr Corbyn in.
“I would not want to be responsible for letting the racist Labour Party in, which would cause havoc to our public services, to our economy and to community cohesion.”
In a further blow a second prospective parliamentary candidate quit just hours later and publicly attacked the Brexit Party leader on Twitter.
Stephen Peddie, the party’s pick for Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, accused Mr Farage or pursuing a “fantastical and dangerous strategy”.
He said: “I resigned as a PPC because I worried the Brexit Party was evolving from a national asset to a national threat. I suspect I’m far from alone.
“We have ‘a’ Brexit only because of Farage, that doesn’t make it his to destroy along with our country.
“Given the Corbyn menace, PPCs must ensure they are still best serving their country.”
It comes as:
- Boris Johnson challenges Jeremy Corbyn to finally "come clean" and reveal whether he will cancel Brexit
- Fresh analysis revealed that every household could end up £1000 out of pocket under Labour's nationalisation plans
- The leftie boss will make a major Brexit speech today outlining how he will get a new Brexit deal and referendum in 6 months
- The Lib Dems will launch their manifesto today
- Lindsay Hoyle became the new Commons Speaker - and made a touching tribute to his daughter who took her own life
- Follow the action with our live blog
A Brexit Party source told The Sun: "Every party has significant churn.
"The idea that it's all to do with Boris and Brexit is patent nonsense."
Dan Day-Robinson, who was standing in Devizes, Wiltshire, said he was quitting because his partner was pregnant.
One other candidate is understood to be ill.
Last week the Brexit Party stood down a candidate in Brexiteer Bill Cash's seat to give the Tories a "straight run" in the area.
DONOR SWITCHES TO BORIS
Meanwhile one of the Brexit Party's donors revealed he would now support the Tories at the election, warning Mr Farage risked derailing the Brexit cause.
Property developer Jeffrey Hobby, who donated £10,000 to Mr Farage's party ahead of the European Parliament elections in May, said he believed Mr Johnson was doing a 'fantastic job'.
He added: "It is a shame if Nigel Farage wants to take him on across the country, I don't think that is helpful for the Brexit Party, the Tory Party or the cause."
Mr Farage wants Mr Johnson to abandon his Brexit deal in favour of a No Deal Brexit which he has called a 'Clean Brexit'.
He played down the defections, saying they amounted to "fewer than a handful" of his party's candidates.
FARAGE ON OFFENSIVE
It comes as Mr Farage vowed to "hurt Labour in the most extraordinary way" by personally taking the fight to Jeremy Corbyn in the party’s most “vulnerable” seats.
The Brexit Party leader announced he will tour Leave voting constituencies in the North, Midlands and Wales this week in a bid to topple Remainer MPs and help Mr Johnson.
Speaking at the launch of his party’s 630 parliamentary candidates he said Eurosceptic Labour voters who backed Brexit in “extraordinary numbers” were the “missing ingredient” in the election debate.
Mr Farage said: “Those five million are the most vulnerable group of voters to the Brexit Party in this country.
“I want the country to know the sheer extent of Labour betrayal. We are going to hurt the Labour Party in the most extraordinary way.
“They say that we will split the vote but we won’t split the vote because we’ll be the only people actually offering Brexit.”
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But Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg warned he was in danger of snatching "defeat from the jaws of victory" for the campaign to leave the EU.
He said: “It must be hard to retire from the field, but that’s what he ought to do.”
Mr Farage - who offered to work with Mr Johnson in a "patriotic alliance" if he dropped his deal with Brussels - claimed the Tory plan was a "sell-out".
US President Donald Trump, a friend of Mr Farage, has urged the two politicians to form an electoral pact, saying last week that Farage and Johnson together would be "an unstoppable force."
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