Nigel Farage will not stand as election candidate
Nigel Farage will devote his time to campaigning against Boris Johnson's EU withdrawal deal
Nigel Farage, the pro-Brexit campaigner, says he will not stand in the UK's snap election - instead devoting his time to campaigning against Boris Johnson's EU withdrawal deal.
Nigel Farage, the Brexit campaigner and leader of the UK's upstart Brexit Party, has said he will not run in the country's snap election.
"Do I find a seat, try to get myself into parliament or do I serve the cause better traversing the length and breadth of the United Kingdom supporting 600 candidates? And, I've decided the latter course is the right one," Farage said.
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Farage is opposed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's EU withdrawal deal, saying it binds the UK too closely to EU political objectives.
His decision to field candidates in all constituencies in next month's election is a potential setback for Johnson as it risks splitting the vote of Brexit supporters.
But on November 3 the prime minister said his deal was the only way to get Brexit done.
"If we vote for the Conservatives now, vote for this government, we have the guarantee that we have an oven-ready deal, ready to go as soon as parliament comes back on December the 13th, and we can get it done. We can end the uncertainty."
Johnson also said it was a matter of "deep regret" that the UK had not left the EU on October 31, as he had pledged.
But a leader of one of the UK's opposition parties said he only had himself to blame.
Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said Johnson had wanted to be prime minister for so long that he made the promise without giving it "any real thought".
"Boris Johnson's only got himself to blame for the fact that he hasn't been able to keep the promise that he should never have made in the first place."
Among the senior politicians also doing the election rounds on Sunday was the main opposition Labour Party's shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
"I know Brexit is important and we'll deal with that. But actually, our number one priority must be the survival of our planet and that will be key to all our policymaking."
He said that under his party tax cuts given to corporations would be reversed, and the top 5% of earners would pay more, in order to invest elsewhere.
