Farage says will not challenge PM Johnson's Conservatives in 317 seats

HARTLEPOOL, England - Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said on Monday that his party would not contest the 317 seats won by the Conservative Party in the 2017 election but would contest nearly all other seats.

In a significant boost for Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of a Dec 12 election, Farage said he did not want anti-Brexit parties to win the election so was standing down candidates in 317 of the 650 seats up for grabs.

"The Brexit Party will not contest the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election," Farage said. "But we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the Labour Party, who have completely broken their manifesto in 2017."

"Our action prevents a second referendum from happening," Farage said. "We will also take on the rest of the remainer parties."

Reuters