Former Ukip leader to make decision in coming days as he says current leader Paul Nuttall has ‘six weeks to prove himself’

Nigel Farage has said he is undecided about standing in June’s general election, adding that the Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, has “six weeks to prove himself” during the campaign.

If Farage decides to stand, it would be his eighth attempt to win a Westminster seat, most recently coming second to the Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay in the South Thanet seat, in a campaign now under a police investigation after allegations made about irregularities in the Tory party’s campaign spending.

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Ukip’s sole MP, Douglas Carswell, quit the party last month, meaning it will head into the election without an incumbent.

Farage, who was seen leaving private members’ club 5 Hertford Street after a meeting with Nuttall on Wednesday, told the Sun: “A bit of me says what happened last time in South Thanet was so monstrous there that they wouldn’t dare try it again, so I think if I did run I would win it.”

However, Farage told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday he would make a final decision over the next couple of days whether to focus his efforts in the European parliament or Westminster.

“I’m still leading a group in the European parliament,” he said. “I’ve got to weigh up, where am I best to be to have an impact on Brexit and perhaps warning the British people it’s not going in the direction it should be – Strasbourg or trying to get a seat in Westminster?”

Farage said he had lost in 2015 “in circumstances that weren’t entirely fair, but we’ll let the Crown Prosecution Service decide about that”. Concerns about the rise of the Scottish National party had also dented support for Ukip in favour of the Conservatives, he claimed.

“You can see Theresa May try to stop the same thing again about a progressive alliance that would try to stop Brexit from happening,” he said. “Actually that’s going to wither over then next few weeks.”

The former Ukip leader denied that the party’s place in British politics was over following the referendum. Nuttall recently failed to win the Stoke-on-Trent Central byelection from Labour, despite the heavy leave vote in the seat.

“This is far from over and we need a strong Ukip voice in British politics to hold the government to account,” he said. “He [Nuttall] has got six weeks to prove himself, it’s just as simple as that. I’ve known him for a long time, he’s a strong man.”

Farage said party infighting since the Brexit vote, which saw his successor as leader, Diane James, quit after just 18 days, had stopped since Carswell resigned from the party. It is unclear whether the MP will contest his seat in Clacton and for which party if he does..

“We should have kicked him out two years ago,” Farage said. “He was very much responsible for division in the party. When you have someone [like me] who has been a dominant figure as leader, my critics would say domineering and they would probably be right too, when that person goes, there is bound to be a period where we need to settle down.”