Britain’s Electoral Commission has officially recognised the Brexit Party as an official and legal political party in the United Kingdom, which Brexit leader Nigel Farage has said is a force to fight back against the betrayal of the 2016 referendum.
Eyeing the growing likelihood of the British government betraying the will of the British people and failing to pull the United Kingdom out of the European Union — either wholly or in part — the new party will focus campaigning on making sure Britain leaves the political bloc.
Speaking of his reasoning behind returning to front line politics, having spent much of the past year campaigning with a cross-party pro-Brexit group instead — Mr Farage wrote Friday: “The party was founded with my full support and with the intention of fighting the European elections on May 23 if Brexit has not been delivered by then.
“I have made it clear many times that I will not stand by and do nothing if the referendum result is betrayed, so should this election need to be contested, I will stand as a candidate for the Brexit Party and I will give it my all.”
Mr Farage also repeated his deep concerns with the direction taken by UKIP, now led by London MEP Gerard batten, which caused Mr Farage to sever ties last year. He wrote: “If only Ukip had stayed on a steady course, it would now be riding high in the polls. The decision to become a party of street activism, and to work with and entertain characters with criminal records, has effectively put a glass ceiling on its future success and rules the party out from being a serious electoral threat.”
The new political force — which the Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph reports could poach thousands of members from Britain’s governing party — was officially signed off by the Electoral Commission Friday. The body, which is the national gatekeeper for access to elections, giving assent means the new party will be able to challenge national elections this year.
Although no elections are planned, if Brexit is delayed beyond the legal March 29th date the United Kingdom could be forced to hold European Union elections in May. At the time of the last EU vote in 2014, Mr Farage led UKIP and emerged the leader of the largest party in the UK, an achievement which was a major contributing factor to then Prime Minister David Cameron announcing a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Concern over an unexpected EU election, which would likely be interpreted as another referendum on the government’s effectiveness at taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union has been joined by rumours over a potential snap general election later in the year. Alleged to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June, reports claimed senior Conservative figures were considering the bold move to shore up the Prime Minister immediately after Brexit day.
Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.