JUST one week after being selected to contest the Hexham seat, the local Brexit Party candidate has been stood down.

The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, this week announced that the party will not field any candidates against the Conservative party during the upcoming General Election on December 12 in the 317 seats the Tories won in 2017.

Mark Griffin, of Corbridge, was revealed just last week as the Brexit Party’s new parliamentary candidate for the Hexham constituency.

Keller Fong, also of Corbridge, had previously planned to stand for the party but she withdrew for personal reasons, with Mr Griffin stepping in to take her place.

However, Mr Griffin confirmed this week that he would no longer be standing for the Brexit Party as Hexham was one of the current Conservative seats that his party did not want to contest. He said the Brexit Party had decided to put “country before party” by withdrawing its candidates in the 317 constituencies, and added that he will continue to support the Brexit Party and “the fight to gain back full control of our borders, our laws, military, taxes, and our future”.

Mr Griffin also thanked Brexit Party supporters in the Hexham constituency and throughout the UK.

Mr Griffin had previously said that prime minister Boris Johnson’s deal “will not give us control of our borders, our waters, our laws, nor will it give us the ability to develop new trading relations with the world”.

Mr Farage had also previously criticised Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.

However, on Monday, Mr Farage said the party’s strategy would now be to take on the Remainer parties’ constituencies.

He said his party would focus its efforts on trying to take seats held by Labour, and prevent splitting the Leave vote between the Brexit Party and the Conservatives.

Mr Farage said that he had been swayed by a video of Mr Johnson stating that that the Brexit transition period will not be extended beyond the end of 2020, and the Government would strike a ‘Super Canada Plus’ trade deal. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has denounced the decision calling the move a “Trump alliance” that would allow US drug companies to get a foothold on the NHS.