NIGEL Farage has dismissed speculation he is planning to stand for Westminster for an eighth time as “utter rubbish”.
The former Ukip leader has been tipped to stand in Peterborough, where Labour MP Fiona Onasanya is facing criminal charges, raising the prospect of a byelection.
Ms Onasanya and her brother Festus are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey next week over allegations the she lied about speeding points.
She insists she is innocent and will continue to serve her constituents.
More 60 per cent of people voted Leave in the EU referendum, making it an attractive prospect for such a key figure in the Brexit campaign.
There was speculation in the weekend press that Mr Farage could stand on a platform of sending a message to Theresa May to deliver the kind of Brexit voters want.
However the MEP told the Daily Telegraph: "The idea that I'm going to stand in Peterborough is utter rubbish. I'm not thinking of standing anywhere else...
“In terms of standing in by-elections I've never even suggested it."
Mr Farage has fought and lost seven Westminster elections, most recently in South Thanet in 2015 where he came 2,812 votes short of Conservative Craig Mackinlay.
Mr Mackinlay and two aides are due to stand trial over their election expenses in 2015.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here