Nigel Farage has revealed he will spoil his ballot paper at the general election because there is no Brexit Party candidate in his constituency and he refuses to vote for the Conservatives.
The Brexit Party is assisting Boris Johnson’s campaign by giving the Tories a clear run in the 317 seats which they won in 2017.
But party leader Mr Faraget said he could not cast his ballot for the Conservatives, repeating his claim that Mr Johnson’s deal with Brussels was ‘not Brexit’.
‘I think you should vote, and spoiling your ballot paper is a form of voting,’ he declared in a BBC debate on Monday night.
Many voters immediately voiced anger at Mr Farage’s decision, asking how he could expect others to back the Conservatives when he refused to do so himself.
Final days of the campaign: Nigel Farage speaks to voters in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on Monday with three days left until the general election
Rally: Boris Johnson speaks in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, on Monday. The Brexit Party is assisting his campaign by giving the Tories a clear run in 317 seats which they won in 2017
‘Nigel Farage just said [he] won’t vote Tory. He’s going to spoil his ballot paper. So why is he expecting others to vote Tory in the seats he has stood down his candidates?’, asked one voter.
‘Farage saying he’ll spoil his ballot paper but [expecting] everyone to vote for Brexit is hilarious,’ commented another.
Another voter asked: ‘What is the point of Nigel Farage?
‘He pulls all Brexit Party candidates in Tory held seats then claims in his constituency he will spoil his ballot paper. He has contempt for democracy and contempt for the electorate.’
Yet another voter voiced fears that Mr Farage’s abstention would help Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.
‘Doesn’t [Mr Farage] realise that by spoiling his ballot paper he is handing that vote to muppet Corbyn?,’ they asked.
During the debate, an audience member asked Mr Farage if he would support the Conservatives who say they will ‘get Brexit done’.
‘I think that the only reason he opposes the government’s deal is because he likes being on TV,’ the man said to laughter.
Asked by BBC moderator Emma Barnett if there was a Brexit Party candidate running in his constituency, Mr Farage said there was not.
He said: ‘I’m going to spoil my ballot paper.
‘I think you should vote, and spoiling your ballot paper is a form of voting. I would never stay at home.’
Mr Farage added: ‘I wanted to believe Boris when he said they were going to go for a Canada-style trade deal.’
Barnett challenged him, saying: ‘You can’t stomach voting for the Conservatives, the only party that you said is going to deliver Brexit?
‘If the leader of the Brexit Party can’t support Brexit, what is the point of the leader of the Brexit Party?,’ she asked, drawing applause from the audience.
Backlash: Many voters immediately voiced anger at Mr Farage’s decision, asking how he could expect others to back the Conservatives when he refused to do so himself
Protest vote: Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage (pictured tonight) has revealed he will spoil his ballot paper at Thursday’s general election
Scrutiny: This audience member suggested that Mr Farage opposed Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal ‘because he likes being on TV’
Mr Farage replied: ‘Because it’s not Brexit. I repeat the point, Boris said he’d pass the oven-ready deal by Christmas.
‘If he does that, that is not Brexit. We’ll have years more wrangling, a crisis before next summer.
‘This is the Conservatives who, of course, over half the Cabinet voted remain. They never wanted the Leave result to win, and they’re still, three-and-a-half years on, not giving us what we deserve.’
Accused by Jo Swinson of favouring a ‘unicorn Brexit’, he said: ‘We did not vote to leave the EU treaties to sign up to a new EU treaty.’
To the questioner’s point about enjoying his public appearances, Mr Farage said: ‘Let me assure you, I don’t need to sit here to be on TV.’
Another panellist, the SNP’s Humza Yousaf, joked that Mr Farage could be on Fox News instead, where he has previously appeared.
The debate in York was a special edition of the BBC’s Question Time programme, with an audience of voters aged between 18 and 30.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick represented the Conservatives, while shadow education secretary Angela Rayner took Labour’s seat.
Interrogation: Asked by BBC moderator Emma Barnett (pictured) if there was a Brexit Party candidate running in his constituency, Mr Farage said there was not
Debate: Conservative minister Robert Jenrick, Labour’s Angela Rayner and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on the BBC programme
After several failed campaigns to become an MP, Mr Farage is not running as a candidate himself at this election.
Mr Farage announced last month that the Brexit Party would not contest the 317 seats won by the Tories at the 2017 election.
He said he had taken the decision because he feared that if they had run it would have led to a hung Parliament with significant gains for the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Farage promised instead to ‘concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the Labour Party, who have completely broken their manifesto in 2017’.
The Brexit Party had previously warned the Tories that it would stand in 600 constituencies unless Boris Johnson abandoned his Brexit deal with Brussels.
However, the offer of a ‘Leave alliance’ electoral pact with the Conservatives was rejected by the Tories.
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said at the time: ‘This is a Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson alliance with Donald Trump to sell out our country and send £500million per week from our NHS to US drugs companies.
‘We urge voters to reject this Thatcherite 1980s tribute act, which would lead to more savage Tory attacks on working class communities.’
Alliance: Mr Farage announced in a speech in Hartlepool last month (pictured) that the Brexit Party would not contest the 317 seats won by the Tories at the 2017 election
Mr Farage had previously stated on Twitter that he ‘could not vote for’ the Conservatives.
He founded the Brexit Party earlier this year and led it to victory at the European Parliament elections in May.
The result was a humiliation for Labour and the Conservatives, who came third and fifth respectively.
However, some MEPs including Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the sister of Tory minister Jacob, recently resigned the Brexit Party whip.
Mr Farage suggested on Sunday that the Brexit Party could change into the ‘reform party’ if the UK leaves the EU on January 31, as Mr Johnson promises will happen.
The Brexit Party leader revealed he had already registered the name as he added it would ‘have to campaign to change politics for good’.
He predicted the party had a ‘seriously good chance of winning’ in a ‘handful’ of seats in Thursday’s election.
The party did not hold any seats in the 2017-19 Parliament, and Mr Farage has had little success turning votes into seats at previous general elections.
In 2015, UKIP won more than 12 per cent of the vote but took just a single seat while Mr Farage was narrowly defeated in South Thanet.
Mr Farage also repeated his doubts over Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal, but added there was ‘still time for it to be amended’.