Ukip says it will stand aside to help Tory MP retain his seat

UKIP has agreed to stand aside to help a Eurosceptic Tory MP retain his seat.

Philip Hollobone has signed an extraordinary pact with the rival party, which has agreed not to put up a candidate against him in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

The local Ukip branch said it was endorsing Mr Hollobone because of his support for a ‘clear and clean

Brexit’ and his backing for a ban on face coverings such as the Islamic veil in public places.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has said he wants his party to stand aside in seats with strongly pro-Brexit MPs. He will make a speech in Hartlepool, County Durham, today amid speculation he will stand for election there or in Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire. Mr Nuttall said yesterday he would not stand down if his party did not win a seat in the election, and warned that a Tory landslide would put ‘Brexit in peril’.

Mr Hollobone has a 12,590 majority over Labour in Kettering. In 2015, Ukip came third with 7,600 votes.

In a statement, the local Ukip branch said: ‘Ukip will advise its members, activists and supporters to vote for Philip Hollobone.

‘Philip Hollobone confirms his support for the policy of a clear and clean Brexit. He also confirms his previously held position on a ban on face coverings in public places.’

Mr Hollobone added: ‘I share Kettering Ukip’s desire for a clean Brexit and am delighted that they will not be running a candidate against me.

‘We all worked hard together for Brexit, being jointly committed to this as being in the best long-term interests of the country.’

Yesterday Mr Nuttall said his party was prepared to stand aside in dozens of con- stituencies to help sitting MPs who are Brexiteers hold on to marginal seats.

But he said a huge Tory majority at the election would allow Theresa May to backslide on Brexit. He claimed the Prime Minister was already rowing back on immigration promises and had refused to rule out paying a huge divorce bill from the EU.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: ‘Philip is the Conservative candidate in Kettering and receives widespread local support for his record as a hard-working MP.’