London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026

Victory for Brexit, but not Brexit Party: Farage says he’s ‘comfortable’ with winning no seats in UK election

Victory for Brexit, but not Brexit Party: Farage says he’s ‘comfortable’ with winning no seats in UK election

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said his party influenced the UK general election, despite not winning any seats in Parliament, moving the issue from being ‘in the weeds’ earlier this year to a decisive factor at the polls.

“I am comfortable with the decisions I made in this election,” Farage told the BBC on Thursday evening, defending his choice not to contest some 317 seats across the UK and let those votes go to Boris Johnson’s Tories.


Though he admitted it would have been good to win some seats – exit polls show his party at zero – Farage argued that it was his party that moved the issue of Brexit from being “in the weeds” back in February to front and center of the campaign.

“We set this thing up, we put it back on track. If we get there we’ve done a good job,” Farage said.

All parties encouraged ‘tactical voting’ to some extent in the December 12 election, but Farage’s BP seems to have taken it to the logical extreme, standing down in a number of battleground constituencies to help the Conservatives trounce Labour in many places they would have otherwise lost. Farage argued that this “poleaxed” the Liberal Democrats and helped avoid another hung Parliament.

Exit polls on Thursday evening showed Johnson’s Conservatives winning 368 seats, with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour down to only 191.

“My purpose was to try to get the right kind of Brexit,” Farage said. If this does not happen in six months, he added, “I will have to put my hat back in the ring.”

Farage has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999, and served as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) on two occasions, before founding the Brexit Party earlier this year to campaign for honoring the results of the 2016 referendum, in which the UK voted to leave the EU.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
Police Conduct Cross-Border Raids Against Northern England Drug Network
Nicola Sturgeon Protested at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Event
Major UK Retail Chain Enters Administration With One Hundred Fifty-Four Stores Set to Close
Heathrow Renews Call for Runway Expansion After Losing Europe’s Busiest Airport Ranking
Government Condemns One Million Pound Thames Water Executive Bonus Amid Drought
NHS England Says More Than One Hundred Thousand Hepatitis C Patients Have Been Cured
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Calls for End to West Bank Settler Violence
UK Prepares for Deepest Partial Solar Eclipse Since Nineteen Ninety-Nine
UK Heatwave Triggers Amber Health Alerts as Economic Losses Reach Four Point Four Billion Pounds
UK Offers Electricity Bill Discounts to Communities Hosting New Power Infrastructure
Bank of England Expected to Hold Interest Rates at Three Point Seven Five Percent
UK Government Moves to Ban Subscription Traps and Misleading Retail Discounts
Andy Burnham Gives Councils New Powers to Block Betting and Vape Shops
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Nicola Sturgeon Says She Has No Contact With Estranged Husband After SNP Embezzlement Case
Police Arrest Two Men After Aberdeenshire Defense Technology Office Break-In
Greater Manchester Councils Gain Powers to Restrict New Vape and Betting Shops
Coroner Finds Treasury Workplace Failures Contributed to Personal Assistant’s Suicide
English and Welsh Courts Ban Meta Smart Glasses Over Recording and Privacy Risks
Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Double UK Inflation and Trigger Recession, Forecasters Warn
UK Expands Global Talent Visa Scheme to Support Research-Intensive Companies
UK Equity Funds Suffer Record One Point Six Billion Pound Outflow Amid Capital Gains Tax Fears
Three-Quarters of England Enters Drought as Fifth Summer Heatwave Raises Economic Risks
UK Hiring Stabilizes for First Time Since 2022 as Employers Adjust to Higher Payroll Costs
UK Chancellor Orders Whitehall Spending Cuts as Public Debt Exceeds Three Trillion Pounds
UK Manufacturing Output Records Fourth Straight Month of Growth
UK Condemns Russian Torture of Ukrainian Prisoners and Recruitment of Foreign Nationals
Long-Lost Royal Navy Warship HMS Tiger Found in English Channel After 118 Years
Northern Ireland Finance Minister Seeks Urgent Treasury Talks Over Regional Budget Pressures
UK Government Targets Subscription Traps and Misleading Discounts in New Consumer Rules
Alleged Cartel Boss Daniel Kinahan Extradited From Dubai to Face Criminal Charges
AI Chatbots Challenge Traditional News Consumption and Raise Job Concerns
Andy Burnham Government Promises Crackdown on Exploitative Business Practices
UK University Funding Model Faces Growing Pressure From Unsustainable Student Debt
Government Urged to Subsidise Energy Bills for Vulnerable UK Households
UK Military Spending Plans Threaten to Deepen Infrastructure Funding Gap
Israeli Government Rejects US Peace Framework for Gaza
New Labour Government Signals Closer Economic and Strategic Ties With European Union
Amber Heat-Health Alerts Issued Across England as Temperatures Threaten 36 Degrees
UK Economy Expected to Grow Despite Energy and Supply Chain Shock From Iran Conflict
Foreign Social Media Accounts Drove Disinformation During Belfast and Southampton Riots
Record Number of Migrants Cross English Channel in Single Vessel as Smugglers Deploy Mega-Dinghies
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Reports of Mark Zuckerberg-Linked Superyacht Declining Rescue Assistance Draw Maritime Scrutiny
Preserving Three Banksy Artworks in London Has Cost Taxpayers Nearly £150,000
×