Brexit Party ready for snap election, Farage tells Tories

NIGEL FARAGE will today unveil 150 of the Brexit Party’s prospective MPs, launch a new Brexiteer newspaper and set out policies which he hopes will beat the Tories at a snap general election.

The leader of the Brexit Party will increase the pressure on the Conservatives at a 5,000-strong “Big Vision” rally in Birmingham in a bid to make clear that the party is ready to go to toeto-toe with the Tories.

Mr Farage said the party will have selected the remaining 500 candidates by the end of next week after whittling down a long list of 3,000 applicants.

A new party slogan “Invest in the Rest” will be unveiled as part of the party’s attempts to campaign for more spending on infrastructure in the north of England.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: “The message is that on day one of the new Conservative prime minister, they need to know that we are ready to fight every constituency.

“We’ve got this machine. It’s oiled, it’s organised. We’re on our way. This is our number one focus at the moment – candidates, getting them in place. Any new prime minister needs to know that we are absolutely ready. That we are a real threat.”

A new newspaper, The Brexiteer, has been printed. Three million copies will start to be handed out from 500 stalls across the country on a “national action day” on July 6.

The party has spent thousands of pounds on new merchandise such as coffee cups and football-style scarves.

Mr Farage questioned the appeal of Boris Johnson as party leader, pointing to an increase of as little as 3 per cent in the polls for the Tories.

He said: “Everyone is assuming that Boris will win in the country – the ‘Boris bounce’ so far has been 3 per cent in the polls because it is assumed he is a shoo-in.

“I think his electoral appeal in some parts of the country is high, but I don’t think in the north of England and areas like that he goes down particularly well.”

Mr Farage and Richard Tice, the party’s chairman, will also set out new policies for helping the high street, and infrastructure spending. Tim Martin, the boss of the Wetherspoon’s pub chain, will also address the rally.