Professor of Politics, Professor Tim Bale wrote an opinion piece for The Conversation discussing the decision by Nigel Farage not to stand Brexit Party candidates in the constituencies won by the Conservatives in 2017. He writes: “Hours of airtime and acres of newsprint have been consumed in offering more or less convincing explanations for his decision. And you can see why. Clearly the stand-down was a climb-down from a politician normally inclined to cross the street to get into a fight rather than avoid one. But that isn’t the strangest aspect of the decision. No, the weirdest thing is Farage’s seeming determination to carry on the fight in constituencies that the Tories need to gain to win the election. These are seats that voted Leave in 2016 but have traditionally been held by Labour.”Find out more