Nigel Farage has doomed his party to failure

Until this morning, Nigel Farage’s creation of the Brexit Party stood as an object lesson in how to found a new political party in a two party system. Many have tried this of course, from David Owen to Chuka Umunna, and all have floundered – some quicker than others. The Brexit party, by contrast, went from nothing to winning the European elections in under five months. It did so because it had a very clear purpose and because its foundation was perfectly timed in order to exploit that issue.

But as of 11 o’clock this morning, that is gone. The Brexit Party is doomed to follow the same sad trajectory of other failed parties – to become the Natural Law Party for Brexiteers. Until this morning, it was widely reported that Farage was thinking of standing candidates in no more than 100 seats, perhaps fewer than 20. That would have been about right.