Arron Banks withdraws candidacy from Clacton seat

Banks made the announcement after meeting local UKIP councillors in Clacton today, and claimed he would be putting his full support behind UKIP candidate Jeff Bray as he has “no intention of standing in the way of Hard working activists”.

However, Banks initially chose to contest the Clacton seat due to his intense rivalry with former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell, who currently represents Clacton in Parliament. Carswell, though, announced that he would not be standing for re-election, leaving Banks without a reason to stand.

“Douglas Carswell is the epitome of a nasty little career politician who didn’t give two hoots for the area,” Banks wrote in a Leave.EU statement.

Multimillionaire Banks’ visit to Clacton today was just the second time he had been in the constituency, which he admitted he knew “nothing about”.

This is further proof, if any was needed, that Banks’ motivation for standing was motivated by ego rather than any concern for constituents.