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UKIP has backed Boris Johnson in the General Election in a major move to endorse Tory Brexiteers.

The party have decided not to stand in Uxbridge & South Ruislip where the Foreign Secretary has a 10,695 majority.

This is the second time UKIP has decided not to run against Brexit-backing MPs following their election pact with Tory MP Philip Hollobone in Kettering.

Deputy leader Paul Nuttall said they would not seek to target seats where a pro-Brexit MP has a slender majority and could lose to a Remainer.

This is to avoid splitting the vote and give the pro-Brexit candidate the best chance of winning.

He said standing aside for MPs who are fully committed to Brexit would happen in “tens of seats, not hundreds” across the UK.

Last week Mr Hollobone welcomed UKIP’s decision not to run against him. The two parties share views on Brexit, HS2 and foreign aid.

Labour’s General Election campaign coordinator Andrew Gwynne, criticised the decision.

He said: “You can’t put a cigarette paper between UKIP and the Tories now.”

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “Boris Johnson is now the UKIP candidate in Uxbridge. The Conservative Party’s relentless push towards a hard Brexit is everything UKIP could have wished for.”

A Conservative spokesman said: “Only Theresa May and her Conservative team will provide the strong and stable leadership needed to take us through Brexit and beyond. A vote for any other party, whether it’s Labour, the Lib Dems, or UKIP, will just lead to the chaos and confusion of Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street, dropping his tax bombshell on the family homes of ordinary Londoners.”

The Greens, Labour and the Lib Dems have all chosen their candidates to challenge Mr Johnson, who took the seat at the 2015 General Election after his spell as mayor.

UKIP came third in the seat with 6,345 votes compared to the Tories 22,511.