Order Garcinia Ultra Pure: Could Nigel Farage still cost Boris Johnson victory at the general election?. Nigel Farage's decision to give the Tories a free run only in seats they already hold could still damage Boris Johnson's chances of winning target seats help by opponents. The Brexit Party leader announced he will still run candidates in constituencies held by Labour and Remainer parties in a climb-down this morning.
There is speculation the Brexit Party could now focus resources on perhaps as few as 40 Leave-leaning Labour constituencies.
But the move, while helping secure the Tory base vote, may hamper the Tories in seats where they finished a close second in 2017.
There are eight Labour-held seats where they lead by less than one per cent of votes from the Conservatives and 15 where they lead by two per cent or less.
Ranging from Kensington and Canterbury in the south to Barrow-in-Furness and Keightley in the north, a split in the vote between the Tories and the Brexit Party could see them remain in the hands of Jeremy Corbyn rather than helping Boris Johnson get a Commons majority.
The nascent party has already arguably cost the Conservatives two seats this year after they ran in by-elections.
In the Peterborough by-election in June the Brexit Party was the difference between victory and failure.
The seat was taken by Labour's Lisa Forbes (10,482) with a majority of 683 from the Brexit Party's Mike Green (9,801), with the Tories in third. But a clear run for the Conservatives' Paul Bristow (7,243) would have seen him take the seat.
And in August in Brecon and Radnorshire the Tory Chris Davies (12,401) was forced into second place, 1,425 behind the Lib Dems' Jane Dodds (13,826), after the Brexit Party's Des Parkinson took 3,331 eurosceptic votes.
Mr Farage today claimed that Boris Johnson tried to bribe him with a peerage before his climb-down over the general election.
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