Is the Brexit Party imploding?
Farage insists all is well - but analysts say he has ‘mutiny’ on his hands
Four senior Brexit Party politicians quit yesterday and urged their fellow Eurosceptics to vote Tory.
With just a week to go until polling day, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Lance Forman, Lucy Harris and John Longworth announced they were leaving the party, saying the Brexit Party's participation in the election will split the Leave vote.
The Daily Mail said that Farage had “a mutiny” on his hands. The Times said party’s general election campaign has “descended into acrimony”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rees-Mogg, MEP for the East Midlands and a former Tory candidate, said: “We need a strong Leave-supporting government to deliver the Brexit 17.4 million voted for. The Conservatives are the only option for Brexit supporters and democrats alike.”
Forman added: “The Brexit Party's strategy is misguided. It jeopardises the chance to become an independent country at the very time victory is in sight.”
In response, Farage said he was “disappointed” and a party spokesperson spoke of close ties between the rebels and senior Tories - including Rees-Mogg's brother Jacob.
“One of the MEPs is the sister of a cabinet minister, another has a partner who works in the office of the same cabinet minister and yet another is a personal friend of both Boris Johnson and Michael Gove,” the spokesperson said.
However, Rees-Mogg said she found it “disturbingly old-fashioned” that people were suggesting her brother was able to dictate her political views. “He doesn’t,” she said.
The news caps off a difficult week for the Brexit Party. On Wednesday, the party sacked the MEP John Longworth, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, for “repeatedly undermining” Farage’s election strategy.
Later, Farage, used a BBC interview with Andrew Neil to dismiss Rees-Mogg’s claim that the leave vote was being split across the country and to insist that his party is not imploding.
“She doesn’t understand what is happening in the Labour seats in which we are standing,” he said
With his party languishing at 3% in the polls, Farage has less clout than he had hoped for when he threatened the Tories with a Brexit Party candidate in every seat.
Earlier in the campaign, Farage withdrew from 317 Tory-held seats to avoid splitting the vote. He insisted last night that his party is still “hammering the Labour Leave vote in its traditional heartlands”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - October 13, 2024
Sunday's cartoons - the swing of things, fear of facts, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 timely cartoons about climate change denial
Cartoons Artists take on textbook trouble, bizarre beliefs, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kris Kristofferson: the free-spirited country music star who studied at Oxford
In the Spotlight The songwriter, singer and film-star has died aged 88
By The Week UK Published
-
What next for Reform UK?
In the Spotlight Farage says party should learn from the Lib Dems in drumming up local support
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Britain's Labour Party wins in a landslide
Speed Read The Conservatives were unseated after 14 years of rule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is Nigel Farage heading to the Commons?
Talking Point Reform UK leader looks on track to 'turn British politics upside-down' once again
By The Week UK Published
-
First-past-the-post: time for electoral reform?
Talking Point If smaller parties win votes but not seats, the 2024 election could be a turning point for proportional representation
By The Week UK Published