Nigel Farage urged to stand down from all marginal seats

Nigel Farage’s financial backer Arron Banks has encouraged him to stand down from all marginal seats ahead of the election.

Arron Banks has called on Nigel Farage to ‘save Brexit’. Picture: AFP.

Nigel Farage’s closest ally and financial backer Arron Banks has encouraged the Brexit Party to stand down from all marginal seats in the upcoming UK general election.

Mr Banks, the founder of Leave. EU who was one of the main funders of the Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum, said Mr Farage had only 48 hours before the 4pm Thursday GMT deadline for changes to candidates for the December 12 vote.

He has been pushing for Mr Farage, the founder of the Brexit Party, to extend his decision not to stand in seats won by the Tories in the last election.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Banks told Reuters: “We need to see further moves to stand down candidates in marginal seats they can’t win and go for the 40 or so Labour seats where the Tories haven’t got a hope.

“Brexit is under threat.’’

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Mr Banks added: “Nigel reminds me of a gambler at a casino that’s been winning all night and it’s time to take the chips off the table and step away. What we are offering the geezer, as you might say, is Brexit.”

But Mr Farage has insisted that he has already given significant ground – and several dozen seats to the Tories by not splitting the vote in the first past the post system. He says that generosity has not been reciprocated.

On Tuesday morning Mr Farage told British television that the Brexit party would contest Labour seats as they had “turned [their] back on Brexit”.

“I made a big, generous offer to the Conservative Party yesterday [Monday]. I gifted them a couple of dozen seats.”

He later told the BBC: “I would have expected, having put country before party, to perhaps have got something back from the Conservatives.

“But no, nothing is good enough for them.”

He added: “It is clear to me it is not a Leave majority they want in parliament, it is just a Tory one.”

Mr Farage said the Brexit Party would take more Labour votes than Conservative ones and his candidates would have a chance of winning because many Labour voters who want Brexit to happen would not bring themselves to vote for the Tory party.

“I have given more ground than anyone you have ever spoken to in the interest of putting country before party,” Mr Farage then told Good Morning Britain.” I have given that ground now and I am clear we will fight against Labour and the Remainers in parliament.”

But the Tories are worried that Brexit party candidates could cost them some seats they need to win over in order to get an outright majority.