A multimillionaire donor, who bankrolled Vote Leave in the EU referendum, says he will help British Prime Minister Theresa May to accelerate the process of Brexit by ousting almost 140 pro-Remain MPs.
City asset manager Jeremy Hosking had donated over £1.5m to the pro-Brexit cause before the vote was held in June 2016. He now wants to give May an “army” of pro-Brexit MPs behind her after the 8 June General Election.
He said he would give £5,000 each to Tory candidates in 138 mainly Labour-held seats where the majority of voters supported leaving the bloc, but the MP voted Remain.
“I think it is going to be a lot of hard work so we need the best team there, and we need all the Brexiteers there – particularly the Brexiteers in the Labour heartlands,” Hosking told The Observer, adding,“I think that will do a lot for Brexit.”
This comes after the Best for Britain group, led by pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller (pictured below), raised £300,000 through crowdfunding in order to support candidates who oppose an “extreme Brexit.”
That number has since gone up, with the campaign group raising over £384,000 of its £395,000 goal.
“We need to prevent MPs and the people being forced into an Extreme Brexit that is not in Britain’s best interests,” Best for Britain says on its crowdfunding page.
“We will support candidates who campaign for a real final vote on Brexit, including rejecting any deal that leaves Britain worse off.”
In March, May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to officially begin divorce talks between Britain and the EU. However, Brexit negotiations will not begin until after the UK general election.
May has appealed to Britons to support her party in parliamentary elections so she can defend the country's interests in divorce talks with Brussels.
EU leaders, however, have emphasized that the elections' outcome will have no leverage for Brexit.