Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage MEP
Farage in December 2018
Leader of the Brexit Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 March 2019
Chairman	Richard Tice
Preceded by	Catherine Blaiklock
Leader of the UK Independence Party
In office 5 October 2016 – 28 November 2016 Acting
Chairman	Paul Oakden
Preceded by	Diane James
Succeeded by	Paul Nuttall
In office 5 November 2010 – 16 September 2016
Deputy	Paul Nuttall
Chairman	Steve Crowther
Preceded by	Jeffrey Titford (Acting)
Succeeded by	Diane James
In office 12 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
Deputy	David Campbell Bannerman Christopher Monckton
Chairman	John Whittaker Paul Nuttall
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	The Lord Pearson of Rannoch
President of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy[1]
In office 20 July 2004 – 1 July 2019
Served with	Hanne Dahl Francesco Speroni David Borrelli
Preceded by	Jens-Peter Bonde
Chairman of the UK Independence Party
In office 1998 – 22 January 2000
Leader	Michael Holmes
Preceded by	Alan Sked
Succeeded by	Mike Nattrass
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 June 1999
Preceded by	Constituency established
Personal details
Born	Nigel Paul Farage (1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 60) Farnborough, Kent, England, UK[2]
Political party	Brexit (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	Independent (2018–2019)[3] UKIP (1993–2018) Conservative (1978–1993)[citation needed]
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes (m. 1988; div. 1997) Kirsten Mehr (m. 1999)
Children	4
Residence	Chelsea, London, England, UK[4]
Education	Dulwich College
Website	Official website Constituency website Parliament website

Nigel Paul Farage (/ˈfærɑːʒ/;^[5] born 3 April 1964)^[6] is a British politician. He has been leader of the Brexit Party since 2019, and has served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England since 1999. Outside his Brexit Party and MEP activities, he is a vice-chairman of the pro-Brexit organisation Leave Means Leave, and is the host of a radio phone-in on the Global-owned talk radio station LBC.

He was leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2010 to 2016.^[7] He co-chairs the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (formerly "Europe of Freedom and Democracy") group.^[8] Known as a prominent Eurosceptic in the UK since the early 1990s, he has been noted for his European Parliament speeches,^[9][10] and as a vocal critic of the euro currency.

Farage was a founder member of UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty,^[11] which furthered European integration and founded the European Union. After campaigning unsuccessfully in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he was elected MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament election. He was re-elected in the 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 European Parliament elections.

He first became the leader of UKIP in September 2006, and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament election, when it won the second-highest share of the UK popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. He stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting Buckingham, the constituency of the Speaker, John Bercow, at the 2010 general election, and came third. In November 2010 Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest,^[12] becoming leader of the party once again after the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who voluntarily stepped down as leader in August that year.

Farage announced his resignation as leader when he did not win the South Thanet seat in Kent at the 2015 general election, but his resignation was rejected and he remained in his post. In June 2016 he was a prominent supporter of the successful campaign for a vote in favour of leaving the EU in the UK EU membership referendum.^[13] On 4 July 2016, he again announced his resignation as leader of UKIP, triggering a leadership election.^[14][15] He was ranked second in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2013, behind Prime Minister David Cameron.^[16] Farage was named "Briton of the Year" by The Times in 2014.^[17] In 2017, he began contributing to the American television network Fox News.^[18] In 2018 he joined Leave Means Leave.^[19] On 4 December 2018, Farage announced his resignation from UKIP over the appointment of Tommy Robinson as an adviser to the UKIP leader Gerard Batten and the decision of the National Executive of UKIP to keep Batten as leader of the party.^[3][20]

On 13 February 2019 Farage confirmed that he would sit as a member of the Brexit Party in the European Parliament.^[21] On 22 March 2019, Farage was officially announced as the new Leader of the Brexit Party after Catherine Blaiklock's resignation.^[22]

Early life

Ancestry and childhood

Farage was born in Farnborough, Kent, England,^[2] the son of Barbara (née Stevens) and Guy Justus Oscar Farage.^[23][24][25] His father was a stockbroker who worked in the City of London. A 2012 BBC Radio 4 profile described Guy Farage as an alcoholic^[23] who left the family home when Nigel was five years old.^[10] His father gave up alcohol two years later, in 1971, and entered the antiques trade, having lost his Stock Exchange position; the next year, endorsed by friends, he returned to the trading floor at the new Stock Exchange Tower on Threadneedle Street.^[26] Farage's grandfather, Harry Farage, was a private who fought and was wounded in the First World War.^[27] It has been suggested that the Farage name comes from a distant Huguenot ancestor.^[28] Both parents of one of Farage's great-grandfathers were German, migrating to London from the Frankfurt area shortly after 1861.^[29][30]

Dulwich College

From 1975 to 1982 Farage was educated at Dulwich College, a fee-paying independent school in south London. In his autobiography he pays tribute to the careers advice he received there from England Test cricketer John Dewes, "who must have spotted that I was quite ballsy, probably good on a platform, unafraid of the limelight, a bit noisy and good at selling things".^[31] Farage was active in the Conservative Party from his school days, having seen a visit to his school by Enoch Powell and Keith Joseph.^[32] In 1981, an English teacher who had not met the 17 year-old Farage, Chloe Deakin, wrote to the headmaster of Dulwich College, David Emms, asking him to reconsider his decision to appoint Farage as a prefect, citing concerns expressed by others over Farage's alleged 'fascist' views. Emms rejected those concerns, as did the College's deputy headmaster, Terry Walsh, who said later that Farage "was well-known for provoking people, especially left-wing English teachers who had no sense of humour." Farage later stated that some teachers were hostile to him because he was an admirer of Enoch Powell, and said: "Any accusation I was ever involved in far right politics is utterly untrue."^[33]

Early career

After leaving school in 1982, Farage decided to seek employment in the City of London, trading commodities at the London Metal Exchange.^[23] Initially, he joined the American commodity operation of brokerage firm Drexel Burnham Lambert,^[25] transferring to Crédit Lyonnais Rouse in 1986.^[25] He joined Refco in 1994, and Natixis Metals in 2003.^[25]

Farage joined the Conservative Party in 1978, but voted for the Green Party in 1989 because of what he saw as their then "sensible" and Eurosceptic policies.^[32] He left the Conservatives in 1992 in protest at Prime Minister John Major's government's signing of the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.^[34][35]

Political career up to 2016

European Parliament

Farage was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004, 2009 and 2014. The BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European election campaign in 1999, but did not air it. Farage, then head of the UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and had friends make copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP's magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage admitted the offence.^[36] Farage was the leader of the 24-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational Eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy. Farage was ranked the fifth-most influential MEP by Politico in 2016, who described him as "one of the two most effective speakers in the chamber".^[37]

Jacques Barrot

On 18 November 2004 Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, then French Commissioner-designate, had been barred from elected office in France for two years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He said that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty; initial BBC reports said that, under French law, it was perhaps illegal to mention that conviction.^[38] The prohibition in question applies only to French officials in the course of their duties.^[39] The President of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".^[40] The following day, it was confirmed that Barrot had received an eight-month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority.^[41]

José Manuel Barroso

In early 2005 Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiros Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euros of Greek state aid for Latsis's shipping company.^[42] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then the British EU Commissioner, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.^[43]

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue.^[44] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament^[45] at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party – European Democrats (EPP-ED), in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Pöttering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013 Farage criticised Barroso's former membership in the Maoist Portuguese Workers' Communist Party, saying: "You are a man that likes fixed ideology, you probably picked it up when you were a communist or Maoist, or whatever you were, and for the last ten years you've pursued euro-federalism combined with an increasing green obsession."^[46]

Herman Van Rompuy

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 to the European Parliament, Farage – to protests from other MEPs – addressed the former Prime Minister of Belgium and first long-term President of the European Council, saying that he had the "charisma of a damp rag" and the appearance of "a low grade bank clerk".^[47] Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment, asking, "Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you." He also asserted that Van Rompuy's "intention [is] to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of the European nation states".^[47][48] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."^[47] After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) "docked".^[49][50]

Buzek said after his meeting with Farage:

I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come... I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility – in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore – as an expression of the seriousness of the matter – rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member.^[50]

Questioned by Camilla Long of The Times, Farage described his speech: "it wasn't abusive, it was right."^[51]

Prince Charles

Charles, Prince of Wales was invited to speak to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008; in his speech he called for EU leadership in the battle against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated, and he went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best."^[52] Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon."

Expenses disclosure

In May 2009 The Observer reported a Foreign Press Association speech given by Farage in which he had said that over his ten years as a Member of the European Parliament he had received a total of £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses.^[53] In response, Farage said that in future all UKIP MEPs would provide monthly expense details.^[53]

2014 European election

In a second visit to Edinburgh in May 2014 Farage correctly predicted that UKIP would win a Scottish seat in the European Parliament elections. Two hundred protesters heckled and booed him.^[54] Thirty police in two vans were needed to preserve order.^[55]

In the European Parliament elections in 2014, Farage led UKIP to win the highest share of the vote. It was the first time a political party other than the Labour Party and Conservative Party had won the popular vote in a national election since the 1906 general election.^[56][57] It was also the first time a party other than the Labour and Conservatives won the largest number of seats in a national election since the December 1910 general election.^[58][59][60]

Undeclared gifts

In June 2014 Farage declared £205,603 for gifts over 10 years, including free use of a barn for his constituency office, which had been declared in the EU register in Brussels each year. The Electoral Commission said that the gifts should have been also declared in the UK within 30 days of receipt and fined Farage £200.^[61][62]

Jean-Claude Juncker

In early November 2014, just days after becoming head of the European Commission, the former Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was hit by media disclosures—derived from a document leak known as Luxembourg Leaks—that Luxembourg under his premiership had turned into a major European centre of corporate tax avoidance.^[63] A subsequent motion of censure in the European Parliament was brought against Juncker over his role in the tax avoidance schemes. The motion was defeated by a large majority.^[64] Farage was one of the main drivers behind the censure motion.^[65][66]

UKIP formation, leadership and resignations

Farage was a founder member of UKIP in 1993. On 12 September 2006 he was elected leader of UKIP with 45 percent of the vote, 20 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival.^[67] He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections. In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign.^[68]

In his maiden speech to the UKIP conference, on 8 October 2006, Farage told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". He said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain – Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."^[69]

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on the national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten.^[70]

Farage stood again for the UKIP leadership in 2010 (having stood down the year before, to focus on his unsuccessful campaign for the Buckingham seat) after his successor Lord Pearson had stood down,^[12] and on 5 November 2010 it was announced he had won the leadership contest.^[71]

In May 2014 Farage led UKIP to win the European Parliament election with 4,376,635 votes,^[72] the first time a UK political party other than Labour or Conservatives had won a national election in over 100 years. Farage was returned as MEP for the South East region, a seat he has represented since 1999.

As an MEP, Farage leads the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy grouping in the European Parliament.^[73]

On 8 May 2015 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP after he failed to win the seat of Thanet South in the general election held the previous day, although he kept open the possibility of re-entering the ensuing leadership contest.^[74]

On 11 May 2015 it was announced that Farage would continue to serve as the party's leader, with the BBC reporting: "Party chairman Steve Crowther said the national executive committee believed the election campaign had been a ‘great success’ and members had ‘unanimously’ rejected Mr Farage's letter of resignation".^[75] Interviewed about his continued leadership by the BBC the following day, Farage said: "I resigned. I said I'd resign. I turned up to the NEC meeting with letter in hand fully intending to carry that through. They unanimously said they didn't want me to do that, they presented me with petitions, signatures, statements from candidates saying it would be a bad thing for UKIP. So I left the meeting, went and sat in darkened room to think about what to do, and decided for the interest of the party I would accept their kind offer for me to stay and tear up the letter." He added that he would consider standing for parliament again should a by-election be called in a Labour-held seat.^[76]

Farage resigned as UKIP leader on 4 July 2016 with the following comment: "During the [Brexit] referendum I said I wanted my country back ... now I want my life back"^[77] and added that this resignation was final: "I won’t be changing my mind again, I can promise you",^[78] apparently referring to his two previous resignations (in 2009 and 2015).^[79]

Westminster elections

Farage has contested British parliamentary elections unsuccessfully for UKIP seven times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he had been elected to the House of Commons, he would have had to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, following the death of Eurosceptic Conservative MP Eric Forth, Farage came third, winning 8 per cent of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain. ^{[citation needed]}

2010 general election

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as the UKIP's leader to focus on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election.^[80] He later told The Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up far too much time.^[51]

Farage stood against sitting Buckingham MP, John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite the convention that the Speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.^[81]

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected and in second place with 10,331 votes was John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP who campaigned as an independent accompanied by "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs - including Bercow - flipping second homes).^[82]

Injury in air crash

On 6 May 2010, the morning of the election, Farage was travelling in a two-seater PZL-104 Wilga aircraft with a pro-UKIP banner attached, when the plane crashed.^[83] Farage suffered injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.^[84] Although his injuries were originally described as minor,^[83] his sternum and ribs were broken and his lung punctured.^[85] The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.^[86]

On 1 December 2010 Justin Adams, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident, was charged with threatening to kill Farage in a separate incident. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident.^[87] In April 2011, the pilot was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said that the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened, adding: "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."^[88] Adams was given a two-year supervised community order, and in December 2013 was found dead at home in circumstances that police said were "not being treated as suspicious".^[89]

2015 general election

In October 2013 Farage announced on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show that he would stand for election as an MP at the 2015 United Kingdom general election, most likely contesting either Folkestone and Hythe or South Thanet; meanwhile he stated that his duty and preference was to focus on his current role as an MEP.^[90][91]

In August 2014 Farage was selected as the UKIP candidate for South Thanet following local hustings.^[92] On 12 September 2014, he appeared at a pro-union rally with Scottish UKIP MEP David Coburn ahead of Scotland's independence referendum.^[93]

In October 2014 Farage was invited to take part in prospective Leaders' debates on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky ahead of the 2015 General Election.^[94] UKIP indicated that it would consider taking legal action were the party excluded, in contravention of established broadcast media rules, from televised Party Leaders' debates in advance of the 2015 General Election.^[95] The 7-way Leaders' TV debate was broadcast by ITV on 2 April 2015 from MediaCityUK, Salford Quays. Of three polls taken immediately afterwards, the ComRes poll had Farage as joint winner, alongside Labour's Ed Miliband and Conservative David Cameron.^[96]

In March 2015 Farage declared in his book The Purple Revolution that he would step down as UKIP leader should he not be elected as an MP; he stated his belief that it would not be "credible" for him to lead UKIP without sitting in parliament at Westminster.^[97]

On 22 March 2015 Farage was targeted by anti-UKIP activists who chased him and his family from a pub lunch in Downe, Kent. His daughters ran away to hide and were later found to be safe. Farage, when asked what he thought about the incident, called the protesters "scum".^[98][99]

2015 resignation announced

Farage was unsuccessful in his bid to become MP for South Thanet^[100] although he came second (beating Labour by over 4,000 votes), reduced the Conservative majority to less than 3,000, and gained over 32% of the vote. He subsequently announced his resignation as the leader of UKIP, citing that he is a "man of his word" since he promised to resign if he did not win his seat. However, on 11 May 2015, the party chairman said they would not accept Mr Farage's post-election resignation because the party's "election campaign had been a great success".^[101]

A row subsequently developed within the party, in which MEP and campaign chief Patrick O'Flynn described Farage's public image as "snarling, thin-skinned, aggressive" and said he risked turning the party into a "personality cult". O'Flynn accused Farage of paying too much attention to advisors that "would like to take UKIP in the direction of some hard-right, ultra-aggressive American Tea Party-type movement", singling out the NHS and gun control liberalisation as particular issues. Raheem Kassam, Farage's chief of staff and editor of Breitbart London was later sacked as a result, whilst O'Flynn stated that he continued to support Farage as party leader.^[102] Farage also faced a number of calls from senior figures within the party to stand down.^[103]

Following the election, a UKIP spokesman acknowledged^[104] that after a series of threatening attacks on Farage it had sent an informant into the Thanet branch of the protest organisation Stand Up to UKIP, stating "in order to provide reasonable security it was of course necessary to have information from the inside", an approach he said was used by "a great many security operations tasked with protecting the safety and wellbeing of a targeted individual". According to The Guardian , the informant is alleged to have actively encouraged members to commit criminal damage. Farage had said he was the victim of "trade union-funded activists" who were inciting vandalism.^[105]

2012 London mayoral election

UKIP forgot to put its party name on its candidate's ballot paper for the 2012 London mayoral election,^[106] Laurence Webb appearing as "a fresh choice for London". Farage described the mistake as an internal error.^[106] Interviewed the following Sunday by Andrew Neil and asked about "the game plan", Farage welcomed the "average 13% vote" across the country, and stated that the party was preparing for county council elections in 2013, the European Parliament election in 2014 and a general election in 2015.^[107]

Asked what would happen to UKIP if the Conservatives made a manifesto commitment to a referendum on EU membership, Farage said they had already failed to honour a "cast iron" commitment to a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.^[107] Farage said that UKIP aspired to come top of the European elections, but Neil suggested UKIP were still seen as "unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable".^[107] In the same interview, Farage described Baroness Warsi as "the lowest grade Chairman the Tory Party has ever had".^[107] He was voted politician of the year by the online service MSN.^[108]

2013 local elections

In May 2013 Farage led UKIP to its best performance in a UK election. The party received 23 per cent of the vote in the local elections, winning 147 council seats, and placing it only 2 points behind the governing Conservative Party and 9 points ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Farage was mobbed by well-wishers as he made his way to his favourite pub, the Marquis of Granby, for a celebratory drink.^[109] He called the victory "a real sea change in British politics".^[109] Subsequently, polling agency Survation found that 22 per cent of voters intended to support UKIP in the 2015 General Election.^[110]

In May 2013 Farage was interrupted by protesters during a press conference in the Canon's Gait pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The demonstration was organised by groups including the Radical Independence Campaign and saw protesters vocally accuse Farage of being "racist", "fascist", and a "homophobe", and tell him to "go back to London". Farage made attempts to leave by taxi but was prevented from doing so, and was eventually taken away in an armoured police van while protesters continued to shout.^{[111][112][113]} He was trying to raise the profile of UKIP in Scotland ahead of the Aberdeen Donside by-election; the party at that point had no representation in the country, and took 0.91 per cent of the vote in the previous election^[114] though it won its first Scottish MEP the following year. During an interview with BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio show, Farage cut short the exchange, stating that the questions regarding the incident in Edinburgh were insulting and unpleasant.^[115]

Tax avoidance

Farage said in 2013 that he had hired a tax advisor to set up the Farage Family Educational Trust 1654, a trust that Farage said was used "for inheritance purposes", on the Isle of Man.^[116] Farage later described this "as standard practice", but stated he "decided I didn't want it. I never ever used it. The Isle of Man is not a tax haven."^[117] Farage has since said that this was a mistake: that he was "not rich enough" to need it, that what was seen to be fair 10, 20 or 30 years ago wasn't anymore, and that it cost him money.^[116] He has criticised the political discourse surrounding tax avoidance as a "race to the bottom".^[118] The BBC reported: "The Isle of Man was one of the UK's crown dependencies which signed an agreement on corporate disclosure at a recent meeting with David Cameron amid claims that individuals and firms are using offshore locations to reduce their tax liabilities", adding that the Isle of Man rejects any allegations that they are used for the purpose of tax avoidance.^[119]

Farage had previously denounced tax avoidance in a speech to the European Parliament in which he criticised European bureaucrats who earned £100,000 a year and paid 12 per cent tax under EU rules,^[120] Farage said in 2014 that "most legal forms of tax avoidance are ok, but clearly some are not" after he was questioned on why £45,000 of his income was paid into his private company rather than a personal bank account, and that criticism of his actions was "ridiculous".^[121] In the wake of the Panama Papers leak, Farage said that the possibility of him releasing his tax return was a "big no" as "I think in this country what people earn is regarded as a private matter",^[122] and criticised David Cameron as hypocritical, especially with regard to his past comments about Jimmy Carr's tax avoidance.^[123]

Farage has continued to have fees paid to him via a limited company, Thorn in the Side Ltd.^[124][125]

Brexit

2016 referendum

Farage was a key figurehead in the Brexit campaign of 2016,^[13] which, with 52 per cent of the vote, won. Jean-Claude Juncker promptly told all UKIP members to leave the Parliament.^[126] During the campaign, Farage had made the suggestion of a future second referendum should the Brexit campaign be unsuccessful, but the result be closer than 52-48.^[127] Farage accused U.S. President Barack Obama of a "monstrous interference" in the Brexit referendum debate, saying "You wouldn’t expect the British Prime Minister to intervene in your presidential election, you wouldn’t expect the Prime Minister to endorse one candidate or another."^[128]

2016–2019

On 28 June 2016 Farage made a speech in the European Parliament in which he stated that a hypothetical failure for the EU to forge a trade deal with an exiting UK would "be far worse for you than it would be for us", to heckling and laughing by Parliament members. He insulted his fellow MEPs, stating that "virtually none" of them had ever had done "a proper job" in their lives.^[129] Media around the world covered Farage's speech, including his comment: "... when I came here 17 years ago, and I said that I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well I have to say, you're not laughing now are you?" and his prediction that Britain will not be the only country to leave the EU.^[130] In response, Guy Verhofstadt compared Farage's referendum posters with Nazi propaganda and credited the Brexit campaign with causing a multi-billion loss in the stock exchange.^[131] Explicitly addressing Farage, Verhofstadt added, "... Ok. Let's be positive. Finally, we're going to get rid of the biggest waste in the budget of the (European) Union, that we have paid for 17 years, your salary."^[132]

Farage resigned as leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party on 4 July 2016,^[14] saying that: "It's right that I should now stand aside as leader. What I said during the referendum campaign is I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back. And it begins right now" and "I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician."^[133] Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, described Farage as a "retro-nationalist",^[134] Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said that his legacy is "toxic and unforgivable" and that "He has used his position to whip up hatred against migrants and divert attention from the real challenges this country is facing."^[135] Paul Nuttall, a UKIP MEP, tweeted that Farage's "drive and belief shook establishment politics to its core and gave us a voice"^[136] and Suzanne Evans, former Deputy Chairman of UKIP, said that Farage's resignation surprised her, but "there is room still in Britain for UKIP".^[137] Writing in The Spectator, after his resignation, the journalist Rod Liddle described Farage as: "The most important British politician of the last decade and the most successful. His resignation leaves a hole in our political system. With enormous intelligence and chutzpah and a refreshingly unorthodox approach, he built UKIP up from nothing to become established as our third largest party and succeeded in his overriding ambition – to see the UK vote to leave the European Union."^[138]

Following a legal challenge by Gina Miller to the use of the Royal Prerogative to invoke article 50, Farage appeared on The Andrew Marr Show with Miller. She stated that "politicians had lied all the way through" and that the Referendum act clearly said that the result was advisory. Farage accepted that it was advisory, but said afterwards “I just want to ask her – what part of the word 'leave' don't you understand?”.^[139] Farage talked of a peaceful protest and warned of unprecedented political anger if Parliament blocked Brexit. Miller said that parliamentary democracy required parliament to debate issues and that Farage had spent the whole Brexit campaign arguing for parliamentary sovereignty. Calling his warnings "the politics of the gutter", Tim Farron said the British judges had merely interpreted British law and that fortunately Farage was the only person talking about taking to the streets.^[140] Miller has previously called Farage irresponsible and has blamed him and the tabloid media for death threats against her. She stated in November 2016 that she would not take legal action against those who had threatened her.^[141]

On 7 November 2016 Farage announced he would lead a 100,000 strong march to the Supreme Court, timed for when it started hearing the Government appeal.^[142] On 27 November 2016, it was reported the march was being cancelled out of concerns it could be hijacked by the far-right groups English Defence League and the British National Party.^[143] The next day, Paul Nuttall became the new UKIP party leader after Farage decided to step aside to strengthen his relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump.^[144]

Farage has argued strongly in favour of a British Independence Day being observed within the United Kingdom, on 23 June each year. On 24 June 2016, in a televised speech on the morning of the Brexit result, he stated; "let 23 June go down in our history as our Independence Day",^[145][146] and later said that it "must now be made a national holiday."^[147]

In 2017 Farage called for the departure of UKIP's only MP, Douglas Carswell. He said in The Daily Telegraph: "I think there is little future for UKIP with him staying inside this party. The time for him to go is now."^[148] There was reportedly controversy within the party over whether Carswell had tried to prevent Farage receiving a knighthood. It was reported the MP had suggested Farage should instead be given an OBE "for services to headline writers".^[148]

On 20 April 2017 Farage announced that he would not contest the 2017 general election. He said that he believed he could further advance his version of Brexit as a leader of a group in the European Parliament.^[149][150]

In May 2018 Farage addressed a fundraising event for the Democratic Unionist Party, with his main financial backer, Arron Banks, who accompanied Farage during the event, stating that he would support a bid by Farage to seek office as a DUP candidate after the end of his tenure as Member of the European Parliament in 2019.^[151]

In August 2018 Farage pledged his "absolute and total support" to the pro-Brexit organisation Leave Means Leave, and subsequently announced that he would be returning to full-time campaigning for "the Brexit that people voted for".^{[citation needed]} Shortly after the announcement, he was made a Vice Chairman of the group.

Brexit Party

On 4 December 2018 Farage announced "with a heavy heart" on his live LBC radio show that effective immediately he had resigned his membership of UKIP, after 25 years as a member of the party. In explanation, Farage mentioned UKIP leader Gerard Batten's appointment the previous month of far-right activist Tommy Robinson as an adviser and the National Executive of UKIP's voting in a no-confidence vote to keep Batten as leader of the party. Farage argued that Batten was "obsessed with the issue of Islam, not just Islamic extremism, but Islam, and UKIP wasn't founded to be a party fighting a religious crusade." He also said that association with Robinson damaged the image of Brexit.^[152]

On 8 February 2019 Reuters noted that the Brexit Party has been approved by the Electoral Commission and quoted Farage from an article he wrote in The Telegraph, stating that he would stand as a candidate for The Brexit Party in any potential future European Parliament elections contested in the United Kingdom.^[153][154] On 8 February 2019, the Financial Times quoted Farage as saying that the new party was a "live vehicle" that could be "mobilised" if Brexit is delayed.^[155]

On 13 February Farage confirmed on his Twitter account that he would now sit in the European Parliament as a member of the Brexit Party.^[21]

On 22 March Farage was officially announced as the new leader of the Brexit Party after founder and former Leader Catherine Blaiklock resigned.^[22][156]

On 14 May Conservative MP Crispin Blunt called for the government to go into an "electoral arrangement" with the Brexit Party to ensure Brexit was to happen on time. Asked by Huw Edwards if he would consider such a partnership, Farage said he would be willing to work with anyone to secure a deal that gets Britain out of the single market, customs union and European Court of Justice, but said that trust may be an issue, stating: "both main parties have let us down very badly".^[157]

Farage was assaulted by a Brexit opponent, whilst on a walk-about in the streets of Newcastle upon Tyne, on 20 May 2019.^[158] His assailant, who was arrested for throwing a milkshake at Farage, later accused the Brexit Party leader of spouting bile and racism. Farage tweeted about the incident saying: "For a civilised democracy to work you need the losers' consent, politicians not accepting the referendum result have led us to this."^[159] A month later, 32-year-old Paul Crowther pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage and was ordered to pay Farage £350 in compensation.^[160]

In early June, Donald Trump suggested that Farage should be involved in the UK government's Brexit negotiations, because he has "a lot to offer".^[161]

Arron Banks funding

In May 2019 British broadcaster Channel 4 News reported it had seen invoices for travel and accommodation expenses between summer 2016 and summer 2017. It further reported that these benefits, worth "as much as £450,000", were funded by Arron Banks, and were not declared on Farage's register of interests, which he should have done as a serving MEP. Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, in her role as a quaestor (an MEP responsible for financial and administrative matters), raised the issue and this resulted in an official investigation opening on 21 May 2019. When asked by the BBC about the matter Farage replied, "Whatever happened after the referendum – I was leaving politics, it happened mostly in America, it had nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with the Brexit Party, it was purely on a personal basis. I was looking for a new career and a new life – it's got nothing to do with anything, it's a purely private matter."^[162][163]

2019 general election

Following Boris Johnson's election as Prime Minister, Farage unveiled the names of 635 general election candidates for the Brexit Party, including himself.^[164]

On 8 September 2019, Farage said that the Brexit Party should be given "a free run" at targeting traditional Labour voters in the North of England, Midlands and Wales by the Conservative Party as part of an electoral pact. According to The Sunday Telegraph, he did not want the Brexit Party to face Conservative opposition in constituencies such as Wansbeck and West Bromwich East and in return the Brexit Party would not contest seats where the leave vote was at risk of splitting.^[165] Farage said that his party and the Conservatives "together would be unstoppable".^[166]

On 11 September, a senior Conservative source said that Farage was "not a fit and proper person" and "should never be allowed anywhere near government". The government confirmed that Boris Johnson would not form an electoral pact with Farage, to which he said he was "disappointed" as he was offering a "genuine hand of friendship".^[166]

The Brexit Party gained 642,303 votes in the election but no seats. It was believed widely that they had helped the Conservative Party towards their majority of 80 by standing down in 317 Conservative-held seats.^[167]

Involvement in American politics

2016 presidential election

In a May 2016 interview with Robert Peston, Farage said that, whilst he had reservations on the views and character of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, if he were an eligible US voter he would vote for Trump in 2016 presidential election, to prevent Hillary Clinton becoming president.^[168] In July 2016, Farage visited the Republican convention in Cleveland with his aide and office manager George Cottrell.^[169] Both Farage and Cottrell appeared on American television and engaged in discussions with Trump's aides^[169] before Cottrell was arrested by the FBI on 21 federal counts of fraud, money laundering and extortion.^[170] Farage "was unaware of Cottrell's alleged illegal activities and his arrest by the FBI came as a shock."^[170] Cottrell's arrest left Farage unable to access his personal diary.^[169] Cottrell ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud as part of a plea agreement with U.S. federal prosecutors and was sentenced to eight months in U.S. federal prison and was fined $30,000; the crime had been committed before Cottrell joined UKIP.^[171][172]

In August 2016 Farage and fellow Brexiteers Andy Wigmore and Arron Banks met Trump for the first time at a high-dollar campaign fundraiser in Jackson, Mississippi.^[173] They were invited to the event by staffers for Mississippi governor Phil Bryant while attending the GOP convention.^[173] Afterwards, Trump invited them to his campaign rally that night.^[173] Trump asked Farage to speak at the rally and introduced him to the crowd as "Mr. Brexit".^[173][174]

In October 2016 Farage praised Trump for "dominating" Hillary Clinton, comparing him to a silverback gorilla.^[175] Following revelations of a 2005 audio recording in which Trump made lewd remarks about women, Farage said that Trump's comments were "ugly" but described them as "alpha male boasting" also stating that Trump was "not running to be Pope" and that women also make remarks they would not want to see reported.^[176] Farage's comments prompted several senior UKIP members to express concern privately, and resulted in public criticism of Farage from two UKIP MEPs, Jane Collins and William Dartmouth.^[177] As more publicity appeared about Trump's alleged groping and as the criticisms increased, Farage said he disagreed with Trump's comments about groping women and his comments on Muslim immigration.^[178]

Farage is reported to have had close links with Trump's then chief strategist, Steve Bannon, since at least 2014, when Bannon scheduled meetings for Farage with right-wing figures in Washington. In his book, The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything, Farage described Bannon as "my sort of chap."^[179]

After Trump's victory, Farage said that he "couldn't be happier"^[180] and in the same interview referred to outgoing president Barack Obama as a "loathsome individual" and "that Obama creature", remarks which prompted criticism.^[180][181] Labour MP John Woodcock criticised Farage's comments, saying they had "clear racist undertones."^[182] Farage was the first British politician to speak to Trump after his election, meeting with Trump in his eponymous Manhattan tower.^[183]

Farage was listed as a person of interest by the FBI in their investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.^[184] Farage responded, “This hysterical attempt to associate me with the Putin regime is a result of the liberal elite being unable to accept Brexit and the election of President Trump. . . . I consider it extremely doubtful that I could be a person of interest to the FBI as I have no connections to Russia.”^[185]

British Ambassador to the United States proposal

In November 2016, after becoming president-elect, Trump publicly suggested, via Twitter post, that the UK government name Farage as British ambassador to the United States. Trump's expression of a preference for a foreign nation's ambassador was "a startling break with diplomatic protocol" that was unprecedented in recent US history.^[186] The British government rejected the suggestion, with a Downing Street spokesman and then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stressing that there was no vacancy in the position.^[186][187]

Trump presidency

On 20 January 2017, the day of Trump's presidential inauguration, US news channel Fox News announced it had hired Farage as a commentator. He has since provided political analysis for both the main Fox News channel and its sister channel Fox Business Network.^[188] Farage also began hosting a talk show on the British radio station LBC for four nights a week.^[189]

Since April 2018 Farage has been a strong advocate for U.S. President Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of his attempt to bring better diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea as well as better diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States. As a member of the European Parliament, Farage expressed his desire to begin an official petition for Trump to receive the award.^[190]

Farage endorsed Roy Moore in the United States Senate special election in Alabama.^[191] After numerous allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Moore,^[192] Farage publicly expressed his scepticism over the allegations.^[193] In May 2018, he expressed regret for having backed Moore, stating, "I should have thought about the whole thing far more deeply than I did, and it was a mistake."^[194]

In July 2018 Farage headlined a fundraiser for Lou Barletta, the Republican nominee in the 2018 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania.^[195]

On 30 May Trump congratulated Farage on his party winning 32 percent of UK votes in the EU election, and said he may meet him, as well as Boris Johnson, during his state visit to the UK from 3 to 5 June.^[196]

After gaining no seats in the 2019 general election under the Brexit Party banner, Farage said he would leave the country to work as a warm-up speaker for Trump's 2020 campaign rallies.^[197]

"Jewish lobby" remark

In October 2017 Farage made controversial remarks during a discussion on LBC radio station after a caller who referred to himself as "Ahmed" told Farage he thought the pro-Israeli lobby in the United States was equally dangerous to the Russian interference in American politics. Farage responded by saying: "the Israeli lobby, you know, that’s a reasonable point, Ahmed, because there are about 6 million Jewish people living in America, so as a percentage it’s quite small, but in terms of influence it’s quite big...in terms of money and influence, yep, they are a very powerful lobby," and "there are other very powerful foreign lobbies in the United States of America, and the Jewish lobby, with its links with the Israeli government, is one of those strong voices."^{[198][199][200]} Farage's remarks were condemned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism^[200] and the Anti-Defamation League, which said that Farage's comment "plays into deep-seated anti-Semitic tropes" and was fuel for extremist conspiracy theories.^[199]

Involvement in European politics

During the 2016 Austrian presidential election campaign, Farage said that Norbert Hofer, the Freedom Party candidate, would call for a "Brexit style referendum" if he won. Hofer, however, ruled out a referendum and asked Farage not to interfere in Austria's internal politics.^[201]

Farage initially endorsed Nicolas Dupont-Aignan of Debout la France, another party of the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, and later supported Marine Le Pen of the National Front, for the second round of the 2017 French presidential election. Farage said that the basis for his endorsement of Le Pen was his belief that she would be more sympathetic to the UK following Brexit, in contrast to the pro-European Emmanuel Macron.^[202]

Political views

Economy

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one-size-fits-all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast.^[203]

Farage strongly opposes the use of bailouts and says that "buying your own debt with taxpayers' money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country ... it will be the European Central Bank itself".^[204][205]

On the issue of welfare, Farage wants migrants to live in the UK for five years before being able to claim benefits, and for them to be ineligible for tax credits.^[206] He believes that tax avoidance is caused by "punitive tax rates", and wants "fairer" taxes as a way to prevent it.^[207]

Electoral reform

During the campaigning before the UK voting system referendum of May 2011, which offered the two options of a continuation of first-past-the-post and an alternative vote system, Farage declared himself in favour of the latter, saying that a continuation of first-past-the-post would be a "nightmare" for UKIP, although he also said that AV would make little difference to UKIP's fortunes. The party's stance was decided by its central policy-making committee,^[208] although Farage expressed a preference for the AV+ system as it "would retain the constituency link and then also the second ballot ensured there were no wasted votes".^[209] After the 2015 general election, in which UKIP took a much lower proportion of seats than votes, Farage called the first-past-the-post voting system (FPTP) "totally bankrupt".^[210] He had said in 2011: "I completely lost faith in [FPTP] in 2005 when Blair was returned with a 60 seat majority on 36 per cent of the vote, or 22 per cent if you factor in low turnout."^[209]

Environment

In 2013 Farage criticised David Cameron's policy on wind turbines, describing it as covering "Britain in ugly disgusting ghastly windmills". An official energy policy document produced by UKIP while Farage was leader of the party stated that "UKIP strongly supports a clean environment and clean air, stressing that "coal-fired power stations must use clean technology to remove sulphur and nitrogen oxides, particulates and other pollutants".^[211] In a speech made to the European parliament on 11 September 2013, Farage cited news, reported in several Rupert Murdoch-owned papers and the Daily Mail, that the Arctic Sea ice cap had apparently grown from 2012 to 2013, saying that this was evidence of decades "of Euro-federalism combined with an increasing Green obsession".^[212] Farage has described climate change as a "scam".^[213]

Healthcare

Farage takes an anti-prohibitionist position on recreational drugs. In an April 2014 phone-in interview hosted by The Daily Telegraph he argued that the War on Drugs had been lost "many, many years ago", stating that "I hate drugs, I've never taken them myself, I hope I never do, but I just have a feeling that the criminalisation of all these drugs is actually not really helping British society." He argued in favour of a Royal Commission on drugs, which would explore all avenues as to how to legislate most effectively and deal with their related criminal and public health problems, including the possibility of their legalisation.^[214]

In 2013 Farage said that the smoking ban in enclosed public spaces was "silly and illiberal"; he recommended separate smoking areas along the lines of some German states. He said that banning things makes them more attractive to children, and stated that "Obesity is killing more people than smoking, you could ban chip shops, you could ban doughnuts. The point is we are big enough and ugly enough to make our own decisions".^[215]

In his 2015 book Farage reflected that, based on his experiences, "the NHS is so over-stretched that if you can afford private health care, you should take it, particularly for diagnostics and preventative medicine. In the NHS, the system is so battered and poorly run that unless you are really lucky, you will fall through the cracks. The NHS is, however, astonishingly good at critical care. But what testicular cancer taught me is that the NHS will probably let you down if you need screening, fast diagnosis and an operation at a time that suits you". He supports reform within the NHS, saying that its resources have become stretched due to increased immigration, and blaming Labour for high costs of new hospitals built through private finance initiatives.^[216]

Farage said in 2015 that money which the NHS could spend on treating taxpayers with serious conditions is instead spent on recent immigrants with HIV. A YouGov poll found 50 per cent of those taking part to support Farage, with 37 per cent saying that he is scaremongering.^[217]

Immigration

Farage has said that he supports Muslim immigrants who integrate to British society, but is against those who are "coming here to take us over", citing John Howard's Australia as a government to emulate in that regard.^[218] He told a Channel 4 documentary in 2015 that there is a "fifth column" of Islamic extremists in the United Kingdom.^[219] Farage has said that the "basic principle" of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of blood' speech was correct: "What he was warning about was the large influx of people into an area, that change an area beyond recognition, there is tension," he said."^[220]

In a 2014 interview on the LBC radio station, Farage said that he would feel "concerned" if a group of Romanian men moved next door to him. When interviewer James O'Brien inquired what would be the difference between Romanian men moving next door and a group of German children, in reference to Farage's German wife and children, Farage replied: "You know the difference."^{[221][222][223]} He later expanded on this on the UKIP website, stating that "if we were able to operate a proper work permit scheme for Romanian nationals, with suitable checks, as recommended by UKIP, then nobody would need to be concerned if a group of Romanian nationals moved in next door to them."^[224]

Farage called on the British government in 2013 to accept more refugees from the Syrian Civil War.^[225] He later said that those refugees should be of the country's Christian minority, due to the existence of nearer Muslim-majority safe countries.^[226] During the ensuing migration crisis, Farage alleged that the majority of people claiming to be refugees were economic migrants, and that some were Islamic State militants.^[227]

In a 2015 interview Farage stated that he had a "slight preference" for immigrants from countries such as India and Australia compared to those from Eastern Europe, as they "are in some ways more likely to speak English, understand common law and have a connection with this country".^[228] Polish aristocrat John Zylinski challenged Farage to a sword duel in Hyde Park over Farage's comments on immigration.^[229]

Foreign policy

Farage has been highly critical of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying "Nobody should forget that the most devastating direct consequences of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been suffered by the likes of Mr Blair, but by the civilian populations of these countries and of course by our own brave service personnel".^[230] Farage stated that migrant exodus from Libya had been caused by NATO military intervention, approved by David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, in the civil war in Libya.^[231] When the UK Parliament was debating direct military involvement in Syria in 2013, Farage cited the financial and human costs and poor outcomes of the UK involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan as reasons for Britain not to become involved militarily in Syria. He has expressed fears that rebel forces in Syria may be Islamic extremists.^[232]

Farage has criticised Britain's close ties with Saudi Arabia.^[233] He said: "I think we need a complete re-appraisal of who Saudi Arabia are, what our relationship with them is, and stop extremist talk turning the minds of young, male Muslims in this country."^[234] In an interview with Fox News Channel, Farage criticised the West's reluctance to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and the kingdom's decades-long propagation of radical Wahhabism, while stressing the importance of British and American economic and security ties to the Kingdom.^[235]

Farage called French President Emmanuel Macron a "globalist" who wants "many more powers to be centralized in Brussels, powers taken from the member states".^[236] Farage accused Erdoğan's Turkey of "blackmailing" the EU over the European migrant crisis and Turkey's proposed European membership.^[237] When asked in 2014 which leaders he admired, Farage said, "As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin. The way he played the whole Syria thing. Brilliant. Not that I approve of him politically. How many journalists in jail now?"^[238] Farage has criticised what he sees as EU militarism agitating western Ukrainians against Russia.^[239] Later, in 2015, he said about Putin that "The European Union, and the West, view Putin as the devil. They want to view Putin as the devil. I’m not saying I want take him around for tea and meet mum on Sunday afternoon … But the point is, on this bigger overall battle [against ISIS in Syria] we need to start recognizing we’re on the same side".^[230][240]

Farage's stance on Iran has shifted over time. In 2013 he opposed sanctions on Iran, and criticised a potential Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, stating: "I do not support acts of aggression, even from countries that feel their existence is threatened".^[241] In 2018 he condemned Jeremy Corbyn's "record for standing up and defending this hardline Islamist regime" and declared that regime change was "absolutely the right thing" in Iran.^[242]

Firearms

In 2014 Farage said that it was UKIP policy for handguns in the UK to be legalised and licensed, describing the current legislation, brought in after the Dunblane school massacre, as "ludicrous".^[243] He has also said that there was no link between responsible handgun ownership and gun crime.^[244]

Conspiracy theories

Farage appeared in an online documentary, Bilderberg: The Movie (2014) alongside a number of conspiracy theorists. In the film he said: "I've tried very hard not to believe in conspiracy theories," but accused the European Union of moving "towards supranationalism", adding: "I've got to know over the years the Van Rompuys, the Schulzes, you know, the Barrosos, even the Junckers, the Timmermans, and it's completely clear, they actually want to destroy the nation state as a unit". According to an investigation by the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, Farage has also retweeted Jack Posobiec, a promoter of the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory. A Brexit party spokesman dismissed the findings as "a series of tangential, transient retweets."^[245] Farage has appeared alongside conspiracy theorists from the LaRouche movement and InfoWars.^[246][247]

Electoral performance

Farage has contested several elections under the UKIP banner and one under the Brexit Party banner:

UK Parliament elections

Date of election	Constituency	Party		Votes	% of votes	Result
1994 by-election	Eastleigh	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	952	1.7	Not elected
1997 general election	Salisbury	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	3,332	5.7	Not elected
2001 general election	Bexhill and Battle	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	3,474	7.8	Not elected
2005 general election	South Thanet	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	2,079	5.0	Not elected
2006 by-election	Bromley and Chislehurst	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	2,347	8.1	Not elected
2010 general election	Buckingham	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	8,410	17.4	Not elected
2015 general election	South Thanet	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	16,026	32.4	Not elected

European Parliament elections

Date of election	Constituency	Party		Votes	% of votes	Result
1994 European election	Itchen, Test and Avon	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	12,423	5.4	Not elected
1999 European election	South East England	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	144,514	9.7	Elected
2004 European election	South East England	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	431,111	19.5	Elected
2009 European election	South East England	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	440,002	18.8	Elected
2014 European election	South East England	style="background-color: Template:United Kingdom Independence Party/meta/color" |	UKIP	751,439	32.1	Elected
2019 European election	South East England	style="background-color: Template:Brexit Party/meta/color" |	Brexit Party	915,686	36.1	Elected

Broadcasting career

Since January 2017 Farage has hosted The Nigel Farage Show on the UK talk radio station LBC. The show is broadcast live on Mondays to Thursdays from 6 pm to 7 pm.^[248] Also, since September 2017, Farage has hosted an additional new show on LBC, The Nigel Farage Show On Sunday, which is broadcast live every Sunday from 10 am to 12 pm noon.^{[citation needed]}

Although it is primarily an audio-only radio presentation, the show can also be watched from a television-style visual perspective with Farage appearing live on-screen via a set of cameras within the LBC studio. This way of watching the programme is available (officially) via LBC's YouTube channel, LBC's Facebook page, LBC's Twitter feed as well as LBC's Periscope account during the time the show is live on-air. The weekday editions of The Nigel Farage Show has become one of the most popular shows on LBC.^{[citation needed]}

Farage said on his show that Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow "should be attacked" for his "condescending bias" during coverage of a pro-Brexit protest in March 2019. Ofcom decided that Farage had not broken their broadcasting code since he clarified that he meant a verbal attack.^[249]

On 31 October 2019, the day the UK was set to leave the European Union before the approval of a delay, Farage interviewed US President Donald Trump on his LBC show. Trump criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, saying it made it difficult for the UK to strike a trade deal with the US.^[250]

From March 2018 to July 2018, Farage hosted a podcast under the LBC banner entitled Farage Against The Machine, a play on words for the term 'rage against the machine', where he discussed the latest political developments and political news with political figures who Farage both agrees, and disagrees with. New episodes of the podcast were released every Friday, but the podcast was cancelled after the American rock music band Rage Against the Machine sent a cease and desist letter to Farage, demanding that Farage change the name of the podcast, which he was unwilling to do, prompting LBC to reluctantly trigger its cancellation.^[251]

Personal life

Farage lives in Single Street,^[252] a hamlet in the London Borough of Bromley, "around the corner from Jail Lane".^[24] He has been married twice. In 1988 he married Irish nurse Gráinne Hayes, with whom he has two children: Samuel (born 1989) and Thomas (born 1991). The couple divorced in 1997.^[25] In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national; the couple have two children.^[253] Farage has spoken of how his children have been teased because of their relation to him.^[254] He has made reference to his German wife in response to criticisms that he is "anti-Europe", while he himself says he is merely anti-EU.^[23] Farage has employed his wife Kirsten as his parliamentary secretary^[255] and in April 2014 he said that "nobody else could do that job".^[255][256] In February 2017 his wife told the Press Association that they were living "separate lives" and that Farage had "moved out of the family home a while ago".^[257]

In a BBC interview with Rachel Johnson in May 2017 he described himself as "53, separated, skint [broke]", citing 20 years of campaigning as the reason for both.^[258]

On 25 November 1985 Farage was hit by a car after a night out, and suffered injury to his head and left leg, the latter nearly requiring amputation. He was in casts for 11 months but recovered, and the nurse who treated him became his first wife.^[259] On 26 December 1986, Farage first felt symptoms of what was later discovered to be testicular cancer. He had the left testicle removed, and the cancer had not spread to any other organs.^[216]

In 2010 Farage published a memoir, entitled Fighting Bull (Flying Free in paperback), outlining the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.^[260] A second book, The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything, was released by Biteback Publishing in 2015.^[216]

Farage is a keen cricket fan and has appeared on Test Match Special.^[261] He appeared in an advertisement for the bookmaker Paddy Power ahead of golf's 2014 Ryder Cup.^[262] However, due to spinal injuries since his 2010 plane crash, he cannot play golf.^[263] Farage is also an association football fan, and supports Crystal Palace FC.^[264] He likes to relax by fishing alone at night on the Kent coast.^[254] Farage is a smoker^[265] and also fond of beer, this forming part of his public image.^[266] Farage is a member of the East India, Devonshire, Sports and Public Schools' Club, a gentlemen's club situated in St. James's Square in London.^[267]

Farage is a Christian. In 2014 he described himself as a "somewhat lapsed" member of the Church of England.^[268]

In April 2018 Farage said that his two youngest children have both British and German passports and that they speak "perfect German".^[269]

Car tampering

In January 2016 Farage told The Mail on Sunday that he believed his car had been tampered with in October 2015, as he had been forced to stop when his car's wheel nuts came loose. He reported that he had spoken with the French police but did not wish to pursue the matter any further.^[270] The Times, however, said Farage's story was untrue, and that Dunkirk prosecutors had no reason to suspect foul play or the police would have started an investigation. The owner of the breakdown garage concerned had said the problem was probably shoddy repair work, but he had been unable to communicate directly with Farage.^[271] Farage later said he had made a "terrible, terrible mistake" in speaking to journalists and that a Sunday newspaper had misreported his claims of tampering as an assassination attempt.^[272]

Awards

In November 2016 Farage was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in the 2016 Brexit referendum at the 33rd Parliamentarian of the Year awards run by political magazine The Spectator.^[273][274]

In December 2016 he was shortlisted for Time (magazine) magazine's Person of the Year award.^[275]

See also

• 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
• Brexit: The Uncivil War, 2019 film

Footnotes

References

• 2002 Amnesty law
• Penal Code, articles L133-9, L133-10, L133-11

Bibliography

• Fighting Bull. Biteback (autobiography 2010 hardback first edition) ISBN:9781849540391
• Flying Free. Biteback (autobiography 2011 paperback second edition) ISBN:9781849540940
• The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything. Biteback (memoir 2015 paperback) ISBN:9781849548632

External links

• Nigel Farage Profile at European Parliament website
• UKIP MEPs Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament
• Europe of Freedom and Democracy Political group in the European Parliament
• Debrett's People of Today
• Nigel Farage on LBC

Party political offices
Preceded by Alan Sked	Chair of the UK Independence Party 1998–2000	Succeeded by Mike Nattrass
Preceded by Roger Knapman	Leader of the UK Independence Party 2006–2009	Succeeded by The Lord Pearson of Rannoch
New political party	Chair of Europe of Freedom and Democracy 2009–2014	Party group abolished Superseded by Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
Preceded by Jeffrey Titford Acting	Leader of the UK Independence Party 2010–2016	Succeeded by Diane James
New political party	Chair of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy 2014–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Diane James	Leader of the UK Independence Party Acting 2016	Succeeded by Paul Nuttall
Preceded by Catherine Blaiklock	Leader of the Brexit Party 2019–present	Incumbent
Unrecognised parameter
New constituency	Member of the European Parliament for South East England 1999–present	Incumbent

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