Farage: Brexit Party could rebrand

The Brexit Party could become the “Reform Party” if the UK leaves the EU on 31 January, party leader Nigel Farage has suggested. Mr Farage revealed he had already registered the name as he added it would “have to campaign to change politics for good”.

Mr Farage claimed “Boris Johnson has always been very soft on the immigration issue, but you know what, there’s an election on so tell people what they want to hear”.

Mr Farage cast doubt on Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal, but added there was “still time for it to be amended”.

He said: “It is a new EU treaty. If it goes through unamended we will find it virtually impossible to make trade deals with any other part of the world and we will find ourselves [in] everything from financial services to fisheries bound by EU law. But there is still time for it to be amended.”

Talking about why he stood his candidates down in Tory-held seats, Mr Farage said: “I wanted to stop a second referendum and I think the effect of us standing in the South and the South East would have been two dozen plus Liberal Democrat gains. We’ve stopped that.”

Asked how many seats his party could win, Mr Farage said: “Well I think there’s a handful in which we’ve got a seriously good chance of winning and I think we will get some in, I genuinely do.”

Mr Farage has had a tough week after four MEPS walked out of the fledgling outfit on Thursday to campaign for the PM’S Brexit deal. Annunziata Rees-mogg, sister of Commons Leader Jacob Rees-mogg, along with Lance Forman and Lucy Harris all resigned the whip, while John Longworth, who was sacked for having “repeatedly undermined” Mr Farage’s election strategy, confirmed he was leaving the party.