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Published: 6:36 AM April 24, 2019 Updated: 6:29 PM September 17, 2020

Former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has defected to the Brexit Party to stand in the European elections.

Widdecombe has been a Conservative party member for 55 years, but was incensed to campaign for the Brexit Party due to the failure of the government to deliver Brexit by March 29th.

She told the Daily Express: 'In early May I shall do what I have always done since I first got the vote fifty years ago, and put my cross by the Conservative candidate in the local elections - but a couple of weeks later on May 23 I shall do what I have never done and cast my vote for a different party.

'Nay, I am going further than that: I am standing for the Brexit Party in order that I may campaign vigorously and convince my fellow voters that this time it is imperative to fire a very loud warning shot across the bows of the parties they normally support.'

She will run against TNE columnist and former Big Brother housemate Rachel Johnson, who is standing for Change UK.

From the archives: Ann Widdecombe enjoys a glass of champagne with then Tory leader William Hague after delivering her speech on her birthday to the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth. Stefan Rousseau/PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

Johnson previously used her column to brand Widdecombe a 'snowflake' for her behaviour on the reality television show.

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Also standing in the South West is columnist Andrew Adonis for Labour and prominent anti-Brexit campaigner Molly Scott-Cato for the Greens.