"Brexit Bad Boy" Andy Wigmore Won’t Be Allowed To Join Tories, Says Brandon Lewis

3 October 2018, 21:04 | Updated: 3 October 2018, 21:37

The Conservative Party chairman has told LBC “Brexit Bad Boy” Andy Wigmore will not be allowed to join the party, despite reports he had been granted membership.

Brandon Lewis said Mr Wigmore and Leave.EU founder Arron Banks had been barred from joining the Tories by the Conservative Party board over attempts to "bring down the leadership"

Mr Banks had been urging Leave.EU's social media followers to join the Tory party in recent weeks.

He previously said "the battle for Brexit is now within the Conservative Party" and an upcoming Tory leadership election.

Their recent attempts to join the party had been blocked.

However, on Wednesday Mr Wigmore shared a photo online which appeared to show he had been granted membership.

He alongside, Mr Banks, Leave Means Leave chair Richard Tice and Nigel Farage were dubbed the "Bad Boys of Brexit" during the EU referendum campaign.

Reacting to the news, Mr Lewis told LBC that despite the reports Mr Wigmore would not be allowed to join.

"It’s nothing to do with their views on Europe,” the Tory chairman told Iain Dale.

“These are people who have been in the immediate past financing opposition parties, they have also been looking very publicly and openly to join to disrupt and bring down the leadership of the Conservative Party.

"It's not something I'm going to entertain in our party," Mr Lewis told Iain Dale on Wednesday evening.