Brexit Party’s prospective candidate moved from Hastings and Rye

Tom Bewick, the Brexit Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye

The Brexit Party has moved the prospective candidate for Hastings and Rye, citing Amber Rudd’s resignation for doing so.

The party said Ms Rudd’s decision not to contest the election in Hastings and Rye meant they would move Tom Bewick to another high-profile target seat.

They said Ms Rudd had ‘betrayed’ Brexit.

Mr Bewick has now been reassigned as the prospective parliamentary candidate in Dagenham and Rainham, in East London, with immediate effect.

Hastings and Rye prospective Brexit Party candidate ‘loves Europe’ but wants to ditch Brussels bureaucrats

He said: “As a former Labour councillor, that campaigned to Leave the EU in 2016, I am delighted to be given this opportunity by the Brexit Party to represent a traditional working-class constituency in Parliament.

“Dagenham is the home of the women machinist car workers who, in 1968, led the campaign for equality in the workplace. It was my heroine and staunch Eurosceptic, Barbara Castle, who introduced the 1970 Equal Pay Act.

“This was a time, before the anti-democratic EU, when the concerns of everyday working people were listened to and acted on. Sadly, under Corbyn, these traditional Labour supporters have been marginalised in favour of Hampstead liberals and an inner-city metropolitan elite.

“Moreover, Labour is now planning to steal their 2016 votes by rigging a second EU referendum should they win power.

“Enough is enough. My campaign in Dagenham and Rainham will be about turning people’s understandable anger into hope. Only the Brexit party has a clear and internationalist vision of our nation’s place outside the EU.

“Our programme is one of investment in those communities that have been overlooked by the mainstream parties for decades. Locally, that means improving educational opportunity and ensuring that young people can access high-quality skilled apprenticeships.

“There are huge economic and social opportunities of being outside the straightjacket of the EU. Cheaper food and clothing. Lower energy bills. And investment by councils in local infrastructure and employment schemes without having to take account of burdensome EU state-aid rules.”

“I can’t wait to get started. By building trust with local voters, I will be campaigning positively to show residents that I can represent their concerns in the House of Commons, when the general election comes.”

The Brexit Party’s decision comes after the Green Party announced it would not field a candidate in Hastings and Rye at an election.