Badenoch:
“We will be standing a candidate in the real by-election, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances.
We will not be standing a candidate in the fake by-election that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course, and I think the reason why Nigel Farage has resigned is because he’s terrified that he’s going to be found to have done something wrong.
The best thing for him to have done would have been to call a press conference and explain what he did with the money, apologise if needs be, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, he has been running away from scrutiny. No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests.
We, the Conservative Party, are very focused on uniting the country around sensible policies. We’re going to focus on getting Britain working again and showing some common sense, not throwing random by-elections out because we’re having a hissy fit.”
LibDems, Tories, and Restore saying no…
UPDATE: Labour won’t stand either.
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”