Farage says not standing in UK election

LONDON - Arch-Eurosceptic Nigel Farage announced on Thursday that he will not stand in the upcoming UK general election, after teasing another run for office for months.

"I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go any further than that," the 60-year-old said in a statement.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called the long-awaited election for 4 July, firing the starting gun on six weeks of campaigning.

Farage had hinted that he might seek election as an MP, most likely for the right-wing populist Reform UK, the rebranded Brexit Party that he co-founded in 2018, and for which he currently serves as honorary president.

Reform is currently polling at around 11 percent, which if replicated at the ballot box could split the right-wing vote, potential depriving the Conservatives of key seats needed to win re-election.

"The choice between Labour and the Conservatives is uninspiring, and only Reform have the radical agenda that is needed to end decline in this country," said Farage.

The beer-loving, cigarette-smoking ex-member of the European Parliament said that while the UK general election is "important," the US presidential election in November has "huge global significance".

"I intend to help with the grassroots campaign in the USA in any way that I can," added Farage, an admirer of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to take on President Joe Biden.

Trump nicknamed Farage "Mr Brexit" after he helped to persuade a majority of Britons in 2016 to vote to leave the European Union.

He is a perennial loser at Westminster, however, failing to be elected in seven previous attempts.

Farage is likely to try to influence the outcome of the UK vote in his role as a high-profile presenter for right-wing channel GB News.