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Brexit Party is picking up support from Tory voters after Supreme Court ruling, says election expert

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage arrives in Westminster in central London on September 25, 2019. - British MPs return to parliament on Wednesday following a momentous Supreme Court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend parliament was unlawful. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)        (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage arrives in Westminster on Wednesday (Picture: Getty Images)

The Brexit Party is picking up support from Tory voters after the Supreme Court ruled Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament was unlawful, according to an election expert.

Boris Johnson is currently on his way back to the UK after having cut short his visit to the United Nations in New York when the announcement from the court came through on Tuesday.

All 11 justices decided the PM’s decision to prorogue Parliament was unlawful and ruled it could be reconvened immediately.

Mr Johnson could be met with further bad news because some of his potential voters in a general election could choose Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party instead.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at 10 Downing Street in central London on September 25, 2019. - British MPs return to parliament on Wednesday following a momentous Supreme Court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend parliament was unlawful. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP)        (Photo credit should read ISABEL INFANTES/AFP/Getty Images)
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson could lose votes to the Brexit party (Picture: Getty Images)

Election expert Prof Sir John Curtice told the BBC that early polling showed there could be a swing back in support for the Brexit Party because of concerns that Mr Johnson is not going to be able to deliver Brexit on 31 October as he promised.

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Mr Curtice said: “If he (Mr Johnson) fails to do that, it is very clear that many voters out there who currently say they vote Conservative would go back to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.

“That right there is Boris Johnson’s nightmare scenario.

“There is still a question out there yet to be fully answered.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox addresses the House of Commons, London, after judges at the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's advice to the Queen to suspend Parliament for five weeks was unlawful. (Photo by House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images)
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox addressing the House of Commons on Wednesday (Picture: Getty Images)

“Which is even if the Prime Minister can get a deal with the EU and get a vote in favour of it in the House of Commons by the 19th of October, and that may have got a bit more difficult in the wake of yesterday’s developments.

“Bottom line is: how does he get the legislation that is required through the House of Commons and the House of Lords by the 31st of October?”

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Mr Farage told Radio 4’s Today programme that he was willing to form a "non-aggression pact" with the Conservative Party in a general election if it promised to seek a free trade deal or a no-deal with the EU.

He said the Tories could gain a 100-seat majority if they made the agreement but argued that “half” of Mr Johnson’s MPs did not really want Brexit to happen.

What happens next?

The Prime Minister faced demands for his resignation from furious opposition parties on Wednesday in the Commons.

Downing Street insisted there was no question of him standing aside, despite the Supreme Court ruling there was no “reasonable justification” for his advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament for five weeks.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox also faces questions about his legal advice, which had indicated that a five-week suspension would be within the law.