Reuters
- Nigel Farage launches a new pro-Brexit political party.
- The former UKIP leader unveiled "The Brexit Party" at a press conference in Leave-voting Coventry on Friday morning.
- Farage promised a "revolution in British politics" in response to Theresa May’s failure to deliver Brexit on time.
- He was joined by Annunziata Rees-Mogg – a former Conservative candidate and sister of Jacob Rees-Mogg.
- The party is set to contest the upcoming European Parliament elections.
COVENTRY & LONDON — Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has launched a new pro-Brexit party ahead of next month’s European elections in order to fight back against what he labeled the "betrayal" of the referendum result and Britain’s delayed exit from the EU.
The Brexit Party, which launched on Friday morning at a factory in Coventry, central England, has been set up in protest at the United Kingdom’s failure to leave the European Union on time.
"It became clear pretty early on… that our Remainer parliament, our Remainer cabinet and indeed our Remainer prime minister would do their upmost to delay, dilute and upturn Brexit," Farage said.
"And what we hae seen over recent weeks is the wilful betrayal of the greatest democratic exercise in the history of this nation."
Farage pledged to "start putting the fear of God back into our members of parliament," adding that "they deserve nothing less after their betrayal [of the Brexit result]."
"I’m angry. Lots of people out there are angry."
Farage, a Member of European Parliament who has run unsuccessfully for UK parliament seven times, said the party plans to contest every region in the election on May 23 and has received "just under 1,000" applications from people who wish to stand as candidates for the party.
He was joined by Annunziata Rees-Mogg, who is a former Conservative candidate and sister of the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and will stand for the party.
"Our prime minister will not listen to her membership, or the people of this country… I can’t sit back and let her do it." Rees-Mogg said.
The UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.
However, Prime Minister Theresa May has delayed the exit date twice in order to avoid leaving without a deal because Members of Parliament have rejected her Brexit plan on three occasions.
At an EU summit on Wednesday, May and other EU leaders agreed to delay Brexit until October 31, prompting fury from Brexit-supporting MPs who believed the prime minister should have left without a deal.
Speaking to The Sun before the launch, Farage said: "My ambition us to cause a revolution in British politics, and to end the two-party structure as we know it.
"We hope to have a profound effect on the Conservative party and to shift the centre of gravity once more."
He claimed on Friday to have raised over £750,000 from donors.
Farage said he had placed a £1,000 bet on the Brexit party to win the European elections at odds of 3/1.
Farage led the UK Independence Party three times over the course of 20 years and was its best-known representative.
He quit the party last year, claiming it had become too focused on anti-Muslim rhetoric under the stewardship of its current leader, Gerard Batten.
See Also:
- Theresa May begs EU leaders for Brexit delay as Conservatives prepare to fight European elections
- Brits in Brussels put jobs on hold and rent Airbnbs as despair grows over Theresa May’s Brexit delay plans
- This week Britain could be forced into a no-deal Brexit or end up not leaving at all
SEE ALSO: Conservative Brexiteer says his colleagues are ‘out of control’ and holding UK to ransom
Source: Business Insider – tcolson@businessinsider.com (Thomas Colson)