Nigel Farage ‘will stand’ for new Brexit Party if Britain leaving the EU is delayed

New party granted permission by the Electoral Commission to field candidates in upcoming elections

A new Brexit Party has been officially recognised by the electoral regulator – and Nigel Farage has said he will stand as one of their candidates if the UK’s departure from the European Union is delayed.

The new party, which Mr Farage has put his weight behind, has been granted permission by the Electoral Commission to participate in upcoming elections.

It will be “mobilised” if Britain’s scheduled date of leaving the European Union – 29 March – is delayed by politicians.

Mr Farage said the new party “has my absolute full support” and added that he would stand for it in May’s European parliament elections if Britain has not left the EU by that point.

The former Ukip leader said the new Brexit Party should be viewed as a warning to MPs who have considered applying for an extension of Article 50, and insisted it would draw support from across the political spectrum.

He said if MPs “kick the can down the road”, “then logically we would have to fight European elections and I would certainly stand in them in those circumstances”.

“If the need comes for the Brexit Party to be mobilised, I think it will draw support from across the entire spectrum,” Mr Farage said.

“I genuinely believe people would be very surprised at the support it would attract.”

“There is a live vehicle there from which to fight back. There are many millions of people out there at the moment feeling disenfranchised completely, feeling that they are more Leavers, or Remainers, but feeling they are more Leavers than they are Labour or Tory supporters – and this would give them a focus.”

The party’s founder Catherine Blaiklock told The Daily Telegraph that “a number of hundred” Conservative members had been in touch to say they wanted to defect to the new party.

“Never in peacetime has such a betrayal been attempted by this treacherous Conservative government. No country has ever signed a treaty like this except under war terms,” she said.

“This is a wakeup call. We are going to have thousands of people who will just leave the Conservatives and vote for us in the event of the European parliament election.”

Mr Farage quit Ukip in December 2018, saying he was uncomfortable with the direction of the party under Gerard Batten.

He has made seven separate attempts to get elected as MP since 1994, failing on each occasion.

Mr Farage has, however, been an MEP since 1999, representing the constituency of South East England.

Additional reporting from agencies