Nigel Farage urged to stand for General Election in Doncaster and make it "Capital of Brexit"

Nigel Farage has been urged to stand in Doncaster at the upcoming General Election and make the town "capital of Brexit."
Nigel FarageNigel Farage
Nigel Farage

The former UKIP leader has indicated that he has no plans to bid to become an MP at the snap election on June 8.

But supporters are urging him to stand against Labour's Dame Rosie Winterton in the Doncaster Central constituency - and a Facebook campaign to make Farage the town's new MP is gathering pace.

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Michael Felse, who stood as an independent candidate in the 2009 Doncaster Mayoral election, said: "Already candidates are willing to stand aside.

"I urge Doncaster to formerly invite Nigel to stand in Doncaster. It deserves to be the Capital of Brexit. Nigel for Doncaster I say - I know Doncaster will give Nigel it's very best."

He added: "The track record on voting that saw Peter Davies elected, makes Doncaster Central the best place for Nigel to walk into Westminster, banging out the Brexit message.

"I believe with the voter trend in Doncaster, Nigel would be MP and push UKIP polls to at least 52% in Doncaster and to over 20% nationally. This would make UKIP outstrip Labour with UKIP becoming Westminster's new largest opposition.

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Chris Hodgson, who stood for UKIP in Doncaster Central in the 2015 General Election and took nearly 10,000 votes, said: "I would happily stand aside if Nigel were to stand in my place."

Mr Farage has strong connections with Doncaster, with UKIP's annual conference being held in Doncaster on several occasions in recent years.

In 2014 he said: "It's no coincidence that we're holding our conference here. We are now parking our tanks on the Labour Party's lawn."

However, last week Mr Farage announced he would not be standing on June 8, although he admitted he had been tempted to stand for Douglas Carswell’s Clacton seat.

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Farage, who had a high-profile split with Carswell that saw the MP quit UKIP a few weeks ago, said the constituency would have been an “easy win” but his attention was focused on the European parliament.

“If I compare the platform I have in Strasbourg to being a backbench MP, there is frankly no comparison,” he wrote in the Telegraph.

“The Brexit negotiations will take place in Brussels and the European Parliament will not only have a large impact on them, but ultimately will have the right of veto on any deal at the end of the two-year process.”

He has stood for election to the House of Commons seven times but has never been elected.

In last year's EU Referendum, Doncaster had one of the region's highest out votes with 69% backing a leave vote.