Paul Nuttall Confirms He'll Stand In General Election 2017 But Won't Say Where

He REALLY didn't want to answer this earlier this week.
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Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has confirmed he will stand for Parliament at the General Election but declined to reveal which seat he will contest.

Nuttall hid himself away from journalists earlier this week to avoid questions on whether he would stand.

Nuttall pleaded with journalists not to ask him the question on Monday, as he tried to get away from them at an event where Ukip launched its controversial “integration agenda”.

Nuttall is ushered into a room as he is pursued by journalists on Monday, who asked whether he would stand
Nuttall is ushered into a room as he is pursued by journalists on Monday, who asked whether he would stand
PA Wire/PA Images

On Thursday, he told LBC’s Iain Dale he would stand and said he would confirm where within 48 hours.

“As the leader of the party I will be, obviously, leading the party into battle as I have done many times in the past,” he said.

“We don’t have any safe seats. The other party leaders will visit their constituencies once or twice.

“If we go for it, we have to live and work in the seat.”

Ukip won four million votes but just one MP in 2015 - Douglas Carswell in Clacton.

Carswell resigned from the party earlier this year meaning it will go into this snap election with no incumbent MPs.

Its slip in support since the Brexit referendum will make it even harder to win any seats.

Nuttall stood in the Stoke-On-Trent Central by-election in February but lost to Labour.

He told LBC: “We learned in 2015 that vote share, while it’s nice to get four million votes, there are no prizes for second place.

“I would like us to get more MPs elected. I think it is doable. We have got to target our resources sensibly.”

At the event to launch the integration agenda, Nuttall hid in a room as journalists stood between him and his exit.

Nuttall eventually emerged and tried to move past the gaggle of journalists, who immediately began shouting to ask whether and where he would stand.

Nuttall said: “The NEC’s meeting at the end of the week, I can’t say anything before that, ok? So let’s kill it dead.”

As journalists clamoured with more questions, he pleaded with them to focus on the policies announced at the event.

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