Why Farage isn’t standing in Newark

I always thought that it was unlikely that Nigel Farage would stand in Newark. When I discussed the prospect of a by-election there with him on Monday, he seemed drawn to the idea of a local candidate; pointing out how the Canadian Reform Party had secured their key by-election breakthrough with ‘a completely unknown geography mistress, who lived in the town, who had lots of relations there’.

Farage’s decision not to stand is a recognition that the Tories are bound to pick a local candidate and that their campaign would paint him as someone who is interested in what Newark could do for him, not what he could do for Newark. One of the lessons that Farage took away from his unsuccessful campaign in Buckingham in 2010 is that you can’t turn up somewhere where you have no roots and no connections and immediately ask people to make you their MP.