Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Farage to stand against speaker Bercow

Jon Smith,Press Association
Thursday 03 September 2009 13:09 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage is to stand against Commons Speaker John Bercow at the next election, the party said today.

It posted the news on its website, ahead of a formal announcement tomorrow from Mr Farage at Ukip's annual conference.

He is an MEP for the south-east region which contains Mr Bercow's Buckingham constituency, one of the safest seats in the country.

Mr Bercow won the seat for the Conservatives at the last election with a majority of 18,129 - but at the next poll he will stand simply as "Mr Speaker Seeking Re-election".

By convention the main political parties do not put up candidates against a sitting Speaker, so the Liberal Democrats and Labour would be expected to give Mr Bercow a free run.

Mr Farage will be attempting to cash in on votes from disaffected Tories. He told The Daily Telegraph: "This is a part of England where we did very well in the European elections and local elections.

"We are very well organised and strong and I intend to fight this very hard to become the MP."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in