Ann Widecombe insists Brexit Party results weren't "calamitous"
13 December 2019, 08:07
Nigel Farage's party won no seats and received around 2 per cent of the vote, but Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe has insisted that this result is not "calamitous"
Nick Ferrari asked Ann Widdecombe what went wrong.
She replied: "I think it was always going to be a bit of an uphill struggle.
"I think a lot of people quite understandably, a lot of Conservatives and indeed a lot of Labour people also, were quite understandably afraid that if they voted for a third party.
"Jeremy Corbyn might get in by default.
"Now, I've had emails galore postulating exactly that and I think a lot of people were scared. But nevertheless, when you look at how we did in those big Labour heartlands for a brand new party, we did extremely well, sometimes getting as much as a third of the vote.
So I don't think it was calamitous. It was disappointing. I mean, nobody's going to deny that."
Nick Ferrari challenged her on this.
He said: "This year, your party won the European elections. You've gone to 2% and that's not calamitous?"
Widdecombe replied: "When we won the European elections, we won a massive endorsement for Brexit. Yes, we then had a general election and indeed it was very much down to the Brexit Party and that massive victory that we secured that general election. I mean, Mrs. May wasn't exactly very willing."
She also concluded: "I think as far as Brexit goes, it wasn't too bad a night."
