Nigel Farage vows to stand in general election after European election victory

Nigel Farage has vowed his victorious Brexit Party will stand in a General Election if the UK doesn’t leave the EU on October 31.

Tweeting after his party trounced both the Conservatives and Labour in the European elections just six weeks after it was formed, Mr Farage wrote: “Never before in British politics has a party just 6 weeks old won a national election.

“If Britain does not leave the EU on October 31st, these results will be repeated at a general election. History has been made. This is just the beginning.”

He followed that with a tweet warning that the Brexit Party would “stun everybody again”, then adding that the party will contest all 650 seats across the country at the next general election, writing: “I will not stop until the job is done.”

Mr Farage’s comments come after his party inflicted a bruising defeat on both the Conservatives, who dropped to just 9% of the vote in England and Wales, and Labour.

Prime Minister Theresa May said it was a "very disappointing night" for the Tories, adding that: "It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament."

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Jeremy Corbyn faced calls to change direction following the party’s mauling, with speculation that he might back a second referendum, but he said his priority remains a general election.

The Labour leader did not rule out another referendum, saying any Brexit deal should be put back to the people and that the UK should not be allowed to "crash out" with no deal.

Mr Corbyn said: "What this party does is supports an agreement with the EU to prevent crashing out, supports putting that proposal when agreed to a public vote."

But his position appeared to be at odds with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, who said a second referendum is the "only way" to break the Brexit impasse and the public should be given the choice between a "credible leave option and remain".

The Conservatives came out with a single-digit share of the vote after all results were in from England and Wales, putting it in fifth place behind the Brexit Party on 33%, Lib Dems on 21%, Labour on 15% and the Greens on 12% .

Just three Conservatives were elected in England and Wales and Labour’s numbers were halved from 20 to 10, while the Brexit Party had 28 seats, beating the 24 MEPs that Mr Farage achieved with his Ukip party in 2014.

The Lib Dems, who were reduced to a single MEP in 2014, are on 15 MEPs after their best-ever European results and the Greens also enjoyed a boost, increasing their number of MEPs from three in 2014 to seven.

Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt said the Tories’ dire results meant the party faced an "existential risk" unless it delivered Brexit.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid, another potential contender in the Conservatives’ leadership race, said the "hugely disappointing" results were a "clear lesson" that the public wants the Government to get on with delivering Brexit.

Prominent Brexiteer and MEP Daniel Hannan, who retained his seat in the South East, told the Press Association it was "without question our worst result as a party ever".

The Liberal Democrats attracted Remain-supporting voters from across the political spectrum, including former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who confirmed he had voted for the party, and former Tory deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine.

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said: "Our clear, honest, unambiguous message has won us our best ever European election result, and pushed Corbyn's Labour into third place."

He said the results were a message for Labour to "get off the fence" over Brexit.

The Green Party finished above the Conservatives for the first time in a national election.