Nigel Farage urged to stand Brexit Party candidates in all target seats in bid to help Tory MPs win them
TORY MPs goaded Nigel Farage to stand candidates against them in all key target seats to HELP them win the December general election.
The Brexit Party boss will reveal his election plan as he launches his six week campaign.
But it comes amid deep splits across his new anti-EU party after yet another snub from Boris Johnson.
Mr Farage’s hawks want to run wannabe MPs in all seats across the country, but the doves want to focus on around 20 seats in strong Labour areas that are winnable.
Contrary to previous thinking, senior Conservatives now say a Brexit Party challenge in pro-Leave Labour seats could be a crucial help in siphoning off votes from Jeremy Corbyn’s candidates.
While many Northern Labour voters may struggle to vote Tory because of long-standing cultural rivalries, they could back Mr Farage’s outfit.
One Northern Tory Nigel Evans, the MP for Ribble Valley in Lancashire, said: “I want Nigel Farage and his people to stand.
“Brexit Party candidates will take votes off Labour and we’ll come right through the middle in a load of diehard working class seats across the North.”
Leading Conservative pollster Robert Hayward also predicted that if Mr Farage chooses to contest marginal seats it could play into the Tories’ hands.
We are not negotiating with the Brexit Party. We do not do electoral pacts.
No10 source
He said: “In large swathes of the Midlands, North, and Wales, Brexit voters are ex Labour voters and would rather die in a ditch than vote Tory.
“There are therefore many marginals in those areas where the presence of a Brexit candidate would help the Tories not hinder them.”
Their plan was backed by the Brexit Party’s chief whip in Brussels, MEP Brian Monteith, who urged Mr Farage not to restrict its challenge to just 20-30 Labour seats.
He said: “Such a strategy might at first glance look good on paper, but it would actually be counter-productive to the Conservative desire to win an outright majority.
“The Conservatives must not only win seats but see Labour lose some.
“It helps the Conservatives for the Brexit Party to do well by taking as many of Labour’s Leave-supporting seats as possible – most especially where the Conservatives are very far behind.”
On the eve of his campaign launch, Mr Farage was yet again rebuffed by the PM in his appeal for an electoral pact with the Tories.
A No10 source repeated: “We are not negotiating with the Brexit Party. We do not do electoral pacts”.
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Mr Farage was fighting to stem divisions within the party over how many constituencies to contest.
The movement was split over fielding hundreds of candidates across the country or focussing the fight on just 20 key Northern seats.
Its strategy was being kept tightly under wraps ahead of the launch of its campaign by Mr Farage.
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