Former Ukip leader renews call for party to expel Clacton MP while reports claim Carswell angling to return to Tory fold

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Nigel Farage has intensified his war of words with Ukip’s only MP, Douglas Carswell, by insisting that Tory defector Carswell never really left the Conservatives.

The former Ukip leader again urged colleagues to expel the Clacton MP after an extraordinary day of public backbiting in the party.

Amid reports that Carswell is in talks with the Tories about switching back, Farage told the Press Association: “Did he ever leave the Conservatives? He was certainly representing them during the referendum campaign.”

Farage said the MP had to go because “I don’t want my successor to have to put up with the same sabotage and division that I did.”

Earlier, Carswell said he had an “amicable” meeting with Ukip’s chairman, Paul Oakden, and was happy to continue to represent the party in the Commons.

He told PA: “Contrary to a lot of speculation, we had a very polite and amicable meeting. I think he has done a wonderful job as party chairman.”

However, it was reported that Carswell has begun talks with Conservatives about a possible return to the party.

One Tory MP told the Guardian that while it would “infuriate some colleagues”, they did believe it was likely that Carswell would switch back from Ukip.

A government source told the Daily Telegraph that the Tory party had discussed Carswell coming back for the next general election.

“Douglas has been voting with the Tories anyway and will continue to do so. He’s the only Ukip MP in the House but he’s basically counted as another Tory already,” the source said.



Carswell has claimed that the people of Clacton have election fatigue and suggested he is not keen to trigger a midterm contest. However, that may be forced on him by Ukip if it withdraws his membership.

He could argue that he switched to the Eurosceptic party to help secure Brexit and can now justify returning to a government putting the policy into place.

Oakden was asked to meet Carswell by Ukip’s current leader, Paul Nuttall, as the party descended into fresh chaos after Farage’s call for the MP to be ousted.



Farage unleashed his attacks on Carswell following claims that the MP played a role in blocking a knighthood for the former leader.

Leaked emails showed Carswell joking that Farage should be given an OBE “for services to headline writers”.

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Carswell, who defected from the Conservatives in 2014, responded to Farage with a provocative late-night tweet saying: “Knight night.”

This prompted the millionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks to declare he is ready to stand against Carswell in the 2020 general election. Farage said the comments should not be taken “too seriously”.

However, a subsequent tweet suggested Banks was taking his challenge to Carswell seriously and was making practical arrangements to prepare an election campaign.

“We will have a high street shop in Clacton, professional agent appointed soon and I will be rolling my sleeves up,” said Banks.