London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 02, 2026

General election 2019: Farage says Brexit Party candidates offered jobs to quit

The Conservative Party has denied offering Brexit Party candidates jobs or peerages to stand down.
Mr Farage also said his candidates received "thousands of phone calls and emails" trying to get them to withdraw ahead of next month's election.

He made the claims shortly after candidate nominations closed before the 12 December poll.

The Tories denied offering Brexit Party candidates jobs or peerages.

Mr Farage has confirmed his candidates will not contest seats won by the Tories at the 2017 general election, but will stand candidates against the party elsewhere.

Conservative figures have urged his party not to run in Labour-held marginal constituencies, fearing his candidates could divide the Brexit-backing vote.

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Farage said that he, along with eight "senior figures" in his party, had been offered peerages to stand down.

He said the offer had been made by people "deep inside Number 10 Downing Street" - although he did not think Prime Minister Boris Johnson was involved.

"As you can imagine, I said I do not want, and I will never have, anything to do with this kind of behaviour," he said.

A Tory source has told the BBC the Brexit Party candidate in Peterborough was offered an unpaid role in education in the hope it would convince him to stand aside.

Mike Greene is standing for the party in the Cambridgeshire constituency, which Labour held narrowly at a by-election in June.

It is understood friends of Mr Greene had indicated that the role could be enough of an inducement.

Mr Greene's team confirmed the offer of a role had been made to him, but said their candidate would definitely be running.

'Calls, emails and threats'
Mr Farage also later said his candidates had been "subjected to thousands of phone calls, and emails and threats all over the country" to get them to stand aside.

He said candidates had been offered jobs "in the negotiating team, jobs in government departments and hints at peerages too".

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: "We don't do electoral pacts - our pact is with the British people."

"The only way to get Brexit done and unleash Britain's potential is to vote for your local Conservative candidate".

Speaking on BBC Question Time, Conservative party chairman James Cleverly said allegations that his party has offered peerages were "completely unfounded".

"There are a number of people who went to the Brexit Party, who had been up until very, very recently Conservatives," he said.

"I have no doubt that Conservatives will have spoken to people they know locally and said 'if you genuinely want to deliver Brexit, the only way of doing that is with a Conservative majority government'.

"I have no doubt conversations like that have been happening up and down the country."

But he added: "I'm telling you that I have no truck with a pact or agreements. Nigel Farage has asked for one for months. We said no."

Labour party chairman Ian Lavery said: "It looks like Boris Johnson is trying to stitch-up this election by offering jobs to Brexit party candidates to get them to stand down.

"This gives a whiff of the corrupt way the establishment works. We can't allow the Tories to run the country a minute longer. It's time for real change."

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Ed Davey said the Conservative Party had seen a "hard-right takeover" that "has now been endorsed by both Trump and Farage".

"As Nigel Farage has admitted, the Liberal Democrats are the only party at this election that can take seats from the Conservatives, stop Brexit and build a brighter future," he added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Finland Deploys Commercial-Scale Thermal Batteries Using Crushed Rock to Store Renewable Grid Energy
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Sainsbury Agrees to Sell Argos in £120 Million Deal to Private Consortium
High Court Clears Way for Construction of Chinese Embassy at Royal Mint Court
UK Fuel Prices Climb to Multi-Month Highs as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Disrupt Oil Supplies
Severe Summer Drought and Record Heat Put UK Harvests at Risk
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Faces Labour Backbench Opposition Over Potential Support for New North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
Bank of England Warns Inflation Will Stay Above 3% as Middle East Energy Shock Prolongs Cost-of-Living Pressures
Andy Burnham has Announces Plans to Redistribute Income Tax Revenue to English Mayors
Early-Release Scheme Faces Fresh Scrutiny as Reoffending and Prison Recalls Rise
Police Phone Checks Followed Report on Murder of MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
Archbishop of Canterbury Reaffirms £100 Million Reparative Justice Fund During Ghana Visit
Charities Allege French Police Used Tear Gas Against Channel Migrants
Norwegian Teenager Convicted Over Iran-Linked Murder Plot in Britain
Christian Organisations File Charity Complaints Against Amnesty International UK
Ofgem Tightens Grid Connection Rules for New Data Centres
FTSE 100 Reaches Record High Despite Global Technology Sell-Off
Millions of UK Households Urged to Check Eligibility for Winter Energy Discount
Labour Restores Parliamentary Whips to Diane Abbott and Joani Reid
UK Supreme Court to Hear Challenge Over Palestine Action Ban
UK Commits More Than £8.4 Billion to Dreadnought Nuclear Submarine Programme
England Declares Severe Drought as Wildfire Burns Near Sizewell Nuclear Site
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Middle East Tensions Fuel Inflation Risks
Drought Status Extended Across All of Wales as Heat and Dry Weather Deepen Environmental Strain
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
UK Business Confidence Climbs to Four-Month High
Greater Manchester Gains Expanded Powers Under Regional Funding Reforms
UK Supreme Court to Hear Appeal Over Palestine Action Terror Ban
Shell's Quarterly Profit Doubles to Nearly $10 Billion on Higher Energy Prices
UK Government Removes VAT From Household Electricity Bills
Exceptional Drought Grips Half of England as Wildfire Threatens Sizewell
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Inflation Risks Persist
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The chief executive of the popular gaming company laid off many employees and his pay rose to 38 million dollars
UK Employment Holds Steady as Wage Growth Remains Moderate
England to Introduce Artificial Intelligence into Secondary School Curriculum
Wales Launches £1.2 Billion Industrial Regeneration Programme
High Court Upholds UK Digital Surveillance Framework
Northern Ireland Reaches Budget Agreement on Infrastructure and Public Sector Pay
Home Office Expands Digital Border Checks Nationwide
UK Approves Major North Sea Wind and Carbon Capture Project
The World's Most Terrifying Smartphone: Recording, Documenting, and Reporting to the Regime
Scotland Approves Major Renewable Energy Expansion
UK and United States Sign AI and Semiconductor Cooperation Pact
UK Treasury Tightens Fiscal Controls After Gilt Market Volatility
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 4.5%
UK Unveils £10 Billion NHS Funding Overhaul and Workforce Reform
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
UK: Former Football Association Leaders Call for World Cup Boycott Over FIFA Privatization Plan
Forbidden Love: China severs millions from their virtual partners
×