Tory donors ‘are in secret talks with Nigel Farage over a Conservative-Brexit party pact if there is a snap election’
- Brexit Party ‘would not stand for conservative Brexiteer seats’
- Conservative party ‘would not interfere with Brexit Party strongholds’
- Up to a dozen seats would be left uncontested in the trade off between parties
- Head of the Tories largest donor group said the next Prime Minister ‘needs to be willing to work with Farage’
Secret talks between Conservative party donors and Nigel Farage are said to be plotting an electoral pact in which Tories would not stand against Brexit Party candidates for seats at a snap general election.
Up to a dozen seats would be left uncontested in the trade off which would also ensure Brexit Party MPs did not stand against Conservative MP’s who support Brexit.
The talks come as speculation mounts over the possibility of a snap election being called by the next Tory leader – to replace MPs with new candidates who support the fast track departure from the EU by the end of October.
Conservative Party leadership candidate Boris Johnson arrives at a hustings event in central London. The remaining candidates in the leadership race will face a second round of votes in Parliament on Tuesday next week
Suggestions that the two parties would have to join forces in some way have become more apparent after polls placed Mr Farage’s Brexit Party in first place on 24 per cent, ahead of Tories and Labour on 21 per cent, according to The Sunday Times.
Head of the Tories largest donor group – Johnny Leavesley, of the Midlands Industrial Council said the next Prime Minister ‘needs to be willing to work with Farage’, in article for The Daily Telegraph.
Speaking to the paper Mr Leavesley said: ‘Many senior Tories would no doubt find alliance with the ‘Marmite Farage’ a repugnant proposition’, but that ‘reality should force what could be a very convenient marriage.
‘Farage knows he can’t win a general election outright and many Conservatives will realise that is also their truth.’
While Rory Stewart, said to be the favourite after Boris Johnson to win the leadership race, told LBC that the Tories would ‘find a way, as a party, of reaching out’ to Mr Farage.
To which Mr Farage replied: ‘I would do a deal with the devil to get a proper Brexit’, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader with a letter reportedly asking the British Prime Minister Theresa May and her successor to include members of the Brexit party in future negotiations with European Union
If the deal is struck between the parties it could prevent Conservative MP’s who are unhappy with their new leader from abandoning their party to join the Brexit party, say supporters of the deal, reports The Daily Telegraph.
A business man ‘familiar with the talks’ told the newspaper that discussions were still ‘very preliminary’ and without the support of Boris Johnson.
The Brexit Party leader Mr Farage is expected to be asked about the ‘secret’ goings on between the parties at a Daily Telegraph panel event tomorrow evening.
He last night confirmed to The Daily Telegraph: ‘I have had a couple of approaches from people saying ‘wouldn’t this be a good idea?’ To which I say ‘to do what? Just to keep the Tories inside No 10 and us in the EU?’
Mr Farage said he doubted the efficiency of the Conservatives to deliver a ‘genuine Brexit’.
He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘I don’t trust any of them to deliver a genuine Brexit and unless that situation changes, we are gearing up as an organisation to fight every seat in the country.’