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Nigel Farage will stand as a candidate for Reform UK at the July general election, despite the arch-Brexiter ruling himself out of the race less than a fortnight ago.
Farage, the right-wing party’s founder and majority owner, will contest Clacton in Essex, a seat once held by his previous UK Independence Party, he announced on Monday.
He is also set to return as leader of Reform, replacing Richard Tice.
“I am going to stand in this election,” Farage said at a press conference. Clacton voted 73 per cent to leave the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The race in Clacton is Farage’s eighth attempt to be elected an MP. He has been unsuccessful in previous campaigns.
After Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a snap election for July 4, Farage initially said he would not run, arguing that six weeks was not enough time for him to campaign for a seat.
Reform has said it will field candidates in every seat in England, Wales and Scotland.
Although most polls forecast that Reform will not win any seats, it is expected to take Tory votes in a way that benefits Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
This is a developing story