Nigel Farage to prepare Brexit Party for general election in wake of EU poll victory
3 min read
Nigel Farage has said he is getting ready to lead the Brexit Party into the next general election in the wake of its stunning victory at the European polls.
The Brexit Party leader said “work starts this afternoon” to prepare the six-week-old group for contesting all 650 seats in Westminster as early as October.
And the ex-Ukip leader promised that his party would “stun” everyone once again in a general election if Britain does not leave the European Union by 31 October.
With 371 out of 373 UK counts declared, the pro-Leave party picked up 28 MEPs and more than 30% of the vote share - soaring ahead of any other single party.
Most of the Brexit Party's success came at the expense of the Conservatives, who recorded their worst result in a national election since the 19th century.
With every result declared in England and Wales, the party had lost 15 MEPs, leaving them with just three.
Labour also suffered a torrid night, winning just 10 seats - down eight on 2014 - and seeing its vote share slump to just 14%.
Mr Farage told Good Morning Britain: "The next date we’re supposed to leave on is 31 October. And that date will become a bigger and bigger factor in peoples’ minds as these next five months go by.
"If we don’t leave on 31 October then the Brexit Party will go on to a general election and stun everybody there too…
"And let me tell you, if a clean-break Brexit is not delivered on October 31, this is just the beginning of a new political movement that doesn’t just want to take us out of the European Union, we want to change politics for good, we want to transform the political landscape of this country."
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the returned South East said that his party, which is yet to release a manifesto, will “of course” draw up a wider policy platform for a general election.
He added: "We’ve done amazing things in six weeks.
"I’m not pretending that to set up the infrastructure to fight 650 seats perhaps for October election is easy, but that work starts this afternoon."
Mr Farage also demanded a seat at the table should the next Prime Minister seek to head back to the negotiating table and try to push for changes to Britain's Brexit deal.
He argued "I absolutely insist we do have a mandate to be part of that team.
"I want the Brexit Party. We have some businessmen and women of considerable experience, [we're] quite happy to help the Government get ready for 31 October by becoming part of that team."
The Brexit Party boss - who is pushing for a no-deal exit from the EU - also told the programme that the group's next test will be the umping Peterborough by-election, where it would aim to give its “very best shot” at gaining a seat in Westminster.
The party picked up 38.3% of the vote in Peterborough at the EU election, with Labour trailing on 17.2% and the Conservatives on just 10.9%.
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