‘Leave alliance’: Nigel Farage says Brexit Party won’t run against anti-EU candidates

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s Brexit Party, said Monday that his party’s candidates will not fight the Tories in 317 seats ahead of the Dec. 12 election, a significant boost to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“We will concentrate our efforts into every seat held by the Labour Party and the rest of the remainer parties,” Farage said during a press conference in Wales. “The candidates we are putting up to stand for the Brexit party are genuine and true.”

Farage, an anti-EU campaigner who set up the Brexit Party earlier this year, had previously said his party would contest every single seat across Britain if Johnson did not cancel his deal to leave the European Union.

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He had previously pledged to field more than 600 candidates in the upcoming election.

Now, Farage said he is concentrating the party’s efforts to focus on seats held by the Labour party and prevent the risk of a “disastrous” second referendum by creating a “leave alliance.”

“If there was a second referendum I think it would be disastrous for trust in our entire democratic system, disastrous for business and investment in our country,” he said. “We’ve decided ourselves that we absolutely have to put country before party and take the fight to labour.”

“We urge voters to reject this Thatcherite 1980s tribute act, which would lead to more savage Tory attacks on working class communities,” Lavery said. “Our NHS is not for sale.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We urge voters to reject this Thatcherite 1980s tribute act, which would lead to more savage Tory attacks on working class communities," Lavery said. "Our NHS is not for sale."

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Labour has vowed to renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal with the EU, then hold a new referendum for British voters to decide on whether to leave the bloc on those terms or remain.

Farage had come under intense pressure recently from leave supporters who urged him not to run candidates in seats where there is a risk of splitting the Brexit vote. Over the weekend, several right-wing British newspapers urged Farage to change course.

Farage claimed he changed his position after Johnson  announced he would not accept an extension of the transition period for Britain leaving the EU beyond the end of 2020. Johnson has also said he will negotiate a “super Canada-plus” trade deal, which is closer to what Brexit voters want. The “super Canada-plus” trade deal is a reference to the EU’s agreement with Canada regarding services and security, which took seven years to negotiate.

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“I have got no great love for the Conservative party at all,” Farage said. “But I can see right now that by giving Boris half a chance … and stopping the fanatics in the Liberal Democrats – they even want to revoke the result of the referendum.”

“We are going to keep saying: remember you told us we were leaving at the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, anti-Brexit parties Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats have agreed to not run against each other in 60 seats across England and Wales. In Wales, two of the parties will agree not to field a candidate, boosting the third candidate’s chances of picking up the Remain vote.

There are roughly 46 million eligible voters set to cast a ballot in the upcoming UK election. Here is a look at some key numbers in an election that could determine the outcome.

• 650: The number of seats in the House of Commons, all up for grabs in the election. Any party that wins a majority — or becomes the largest party, even without a majority — can form a government, with its leader as prime minister.
• 298: The number of seats held before the election by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservatives — more than 20 short of a majority. The government’s lack of a majority meant it struggled to pass key measures needed for Britain to leave the European Union.
• 243: The number of seats held by the left-of-center opposition Labour Party, which is battling to return to office for the first time since 2010. Labour plans to downplay Brexit and focus on health care, education and social welfare, which all saw funding cuts under Conservative governments.
• 96: The number of years since Britain last had a December election. British elections are usually held in the late spring, when the weather is better and the days are longer.
• 82: The number of days until Britain is due to leave the EU. Brexit day was supposed to be Oct. 31, but with Britain’s politicians deadlocked, the EU granted a three-month delay until Jan. 31.
• 35: The number of seats in Parliament held by the Scottish National Party, which opposes Brexit and wants Scotland to leave the U.K. and become an independent country.
• 20: The number of seats held in Parliament by the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who want to cancel Brexit altogether.

*With files from the Associated Press