Boris Johnson rejects election pact with Nigel Farage after call for Tories to stand aside in Doncaster

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not make an election pact with the Brexit Party after Nigel Farage called on the Conservatives to step aside in Doncaster to defeat Labour.
Nigel FarageNigel Farage
Nigel Farage

Mr Farage had said that if his Brexit Party and the Conservatives joined forces they would be ‘unstoppable’ and would ‘crush’ Jeremy Corbyn.

Two newspaper adverts today set out his offer to help "secure a big Brexit majority" and to "destroy Corbyn's Labour".

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But a senior Conservative source said Mr Farage was "not a fit and proper person" and "should never be allowed anywhere near government".

Mr Farage tweeted the remarks "look like comments from deep inside the bunker", adding: "I do not want a job in government. I just want to put country before party and deliver a clean break Brexit."

Last week, at his party’s conference at Doncaster Racecourse, Mr Farage urged the Conservatives not to stand candidates against Doncaster’s three Labour MPs, saying to do so would split votes between the Tories and the Brexit Party, potentially allowing Dame Rosie Winterton, Ed Miliband and Caroline Flint to retain their seats.

Mr Farage said he will not field candidates in any of the Conservatives' existing seats and targets if, in return, the Tories stand aside in more than 80 Leave-voting constituencies where they are unlikely to win.

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He made the offer in a full-page advert in the Sun and a wraparound advert in the Daily Express on Wednesday.

Last week he told supporters: “Getting Brexit is the defining issue of our age.

“I will make an offer to Boris Johnson – if you agree to go for a clean break Brexit, I will not stand candidates against you and help you beat the Liberal Democrats in the south west.

“Here in South Yorkshire, the Conservatives have never won and will never win. The Brexit Party is the only party that can challenge Labour. If we work together, we can win a crushing victory.”

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“If we get a deal with Johnson we will win a crushing victory at a General Election. We will get Brexit and we will get our country back. If we work together and don’t split the vote, we’ll smash the opposition.”