Nigel Farage: Tories And Labour Will Be "Very Worried" By Brexit Party Candidate

9 May 2019, 14:34 | Updated: 9 May 2019, 14:42

Brexit Party founder Nigel Farage has said that Tories and Labour will be "very worried" by his party's candidate for the Peterborough by-election.

Mike Greene, who appeared on Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, will stand for the new party in its first chance at a Westminster seat.

The by-election was called in the wake of a recall petition which saw the sitting MP lose her seat after spending time in prison for lying about a speeding offence.

Fiona Onasanya who was elected as the city's Labour MP in 2017 has said she will not stand for re-election.

Mr Farage said: "We'll give it our best shot and I think the Conservative and Labour parties will be very worried by the presence of Mike Greene as we've got a candidate who's extremely well-known and respected in this constituency."

Speaking at an event to launch his election campaign, Mr Greene said he found it a disgrace that the by-election was even happening.

"The people of Peterborough chose Fiona Onasanya in good faith that she would work for them, would deliver for them and I never saw her in this city ... in fact we heard more about her as a city when she was in prison than we ever did when she was an MP," he said.

Mr Greene explained the reason for his support for the Brexit Party: "They're the only party that in my view has absolute clarity and focus on what Brexit is," he said.

"We need to write our own laws, we need to be in control of our own trade, we need to be in control of our own borders."

He added that he had "always been passionate about politics but I'm not a politician".

"I want to use my business experience to make things happen," he said.

"I want to use my lack of political experience to question why things go so slowly."

Asked why he was standing, he said: "If you don't stand for something, you're going to fall for anything and I can no longer fall for the lies, betrayal and deceit that our current political parties give in this country."