Nigel Farage

Nigel Paul Farage (/ˈfærɑːʒ/;[4] born 3 April 1964)[5] is a British politician, activist, political commentator and broadcaster serving as leader of the Brexit Party since 2019. He was leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016[6] and served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the United Kingdom's exit from the EU in 2020. He was the host of The Nigel Farage Show, a radio phone-in on the Global-owned talk radio station LBC, from 2017 to 2020.[7]

Nigel Farage
Farage in December 2018
Leader of Brexit Party/Reform UK
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 March 2019
Chairman	Richard Tice
Preceded by	Catherine Blaiklock
President of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy[lower-alpha 1]
In office 20 July 2004 – 1 July 2019
Served with	Hanne Dahl Francesco Speroni David Borrelli
Preceded by	Jens-Peter Bonde
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Leadership positions 1998–2016 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 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
In office 10 June 1999 – 31 January 2020
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Nigel Paul Farage 3 April 1964 Farnborough, Kent, England[1]
Political party	Reform UK (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	Independent (2018–2019)[2] UKIP (1993–2018) Conservative (1978–1993)
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1997)​ Kirsten Mehr ​ ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	4
Residence	Chelsea, London, England[3]
Education	Dulwich College
Website	www.nfarage.com

Known as a prominent Eurosceptic in the UK since the early 1990s, Farage campaigned for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Farage was a founding member of UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty,[8] which furthered European integration and founded the European Union. After campaigning unsuccessfully in European and Westminster parliamentary elections 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. In the European Parliament, he served as the President of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD)[lower-alpha 2][9] where he was noted for his speeches,[10][11] and as a vocal critic of the euro currency.

He first became the leader of UKIP in September 2006, and led the party through the 2009 European elections, 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 focus on contesting Buckingham, the constituency of the Speaker, John Bercow, at the 2010 general election, and came third. Farage successfully stood in the November 2010 UKIP leadership contest,[12] becoming leader once again after Lord Pearson of Rannoch voluntarily stepped down. He was ranked second in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in 2013, behind Prime Minister David Cameron.[13] Farage was named "Briton of the Year" by The Times in 2014.[14] In the 2014 European elections, UKIP won 24 seats, the first time a party other than Labour or Conservative had won the largest number of seats in a national election since the December 1910 general election, pressuring Cameron to call a referendum on EU membership.[15][16][17]

In the 2015 general election, UKIP secured over 3.8 million votes and 12.6% of the total vote, replacing the Liberal Democrats as the third most popular party, but only secured one seat. Farage announced his resignation when he did not win the South Thanet seat, but his resignation was rejected and he remained as leader.[18] Farage was a prominent figure in the successful campaign for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum.[19] After the vote to leave the EU, Farage resigned as leader of UKIP, triggering a leadership election, but remained as an MEP.[20][6] In December 2018, Farage stood down from UKIP.[lower-alpha 3][2][21] He returned to frontline politics by launching the Brexit Party in 2019.[22][23] Drawing support from those frustrated with the delayed implementation of Brexit by Theresa May's government, the Brexit Party won the most votes in the May 2019 European elections, becoming the largest single party in the European Parliament.

Early life

Ancestry and childhood

Farage was born in Farnborough, Kent, England,[1] the son of Barbara (née Stevens) and Guy Justus Oscar Farage.[8][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[8] who left the family home when Nigel was five years old.[11] 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 who emigrated to London from the Frankfurt area shortly after 1861.[29] His German ancestor Nicholas Schrod was mentioned in the papers in 1870 in connection with a dispute with two men over the Franco-Prussian War.[30]

Dulwich College

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.[8] 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] Reportedly, he would always be assigned office number 007 in the European Parliament.[38]

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.[39] The prohibition in question applies only to French officials in the course of their duties.[40] The President of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".[41] 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.[42]

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.[43] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then the British EU Commissioner, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source[44] 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.[45][46]

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.[47] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament.[48]

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."[49]

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".[50] 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".[50][51] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."[50] 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".[52][53]

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.[53]

Questioned by Camilla Long of The Times, Farage described his speech: "it wasn't abusive, it was right."[54]

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."[55]

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.[56] In response, Farage said that in future all UKIP MEPs would provide monthly expense details.[56]

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.[57] Thirty police in two vans were needed to preserve order.[58]

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.[59][60] 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.[15][16][17]

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 Prime Minister of Luxembourg 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 at the UKIP Conference in 2009

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]

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]

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.[54]

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]

2012 London mayoral election

UKIP forgot to put its party name on its candidate's ballot paper for the 2012 London mayoral election,[90] Laurence Webb appearing as "a fresh choice for London". Farage described the mistake as an internal error.[90] 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.[91]

Farage at the opening of the UKIP office in Basingstoke, in 2012

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.[91] 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".[91] In the same interview, Farage described Baroness Warsi as "the lowest grade Chairman the Tory Party has ever had".[91] He was voted politician of the year by the online service MSN.[92]

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.[93] He called the victory "a real sea change in British politics".[93] Subsequently, polling agency Survation found that 22 per cent of voters intended to support UKIP in the 2015 General Election.[94]

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.[95][96][97] 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[98] 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.[99]

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.[100] 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."[101] 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.[100] He has criticised the political discourse surrounding tax avoidance as a "race to the bottom".[102] 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.[103]

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,[104] 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".[105] 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",[106] and criticised David Cameron as hypocritical, especially with regard to his past comments about Jimmy Carr's tax avoidance.[107]

Farage has continued to have fees paid to him via a limited company, Thorn in the Side Ltd.[108][109]

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.[110][111]

In August 2014 Farage was selected as the UKIP candidate for South Thanet following local hustings.[112] On 12 September 2014, he appeared at a pro-union rally with Scottish UKIP MEP David Coburn ahead of Scotland's independence referendum.[113]

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.[114] 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.[115] 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.[116]

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.[117]

On 22 March 2015 Farage was targeted by anti-UKIP activists who chased him and his family from a pub lunch in Downe, Greater London. 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".[118][119]

2015 resignation announced

Farage was unsuccessful in his bid to become MP for South Thanet[120] 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".[121]

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.[122] Farage also faced a number of calls from senior figures within the party to stand down.[123]

Following the election, a UKIP spokesman acknowledged[124] 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.[125]

Brexit

2016 referendum

Farage was a key figurehead in the Brexit campaign of 2016,[19] 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 US 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]

Farage initially supported Vote Leave (led by Dominic Cummings and Matthew Elliott, supported by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove) and Leave.EU (led by Arron Banks) in their campaigns to leave the EU, saying that they reached "different audiences";[129] however, he later grew irritated at Vote Leave's marginalisation of the UKIP-backed Grassroots Out movement, and their lack of explicit focus on immigration as an issue.[130] He blamed this on the senior "apparatchiks" within the party (i.e. Cummings and Elliott) who purposefully marginalised Farage during the campaign, believing his attitudes on immigration deterred swing voters.[131][132] The Daily Telegraph quoted Farage as saying that: "[Cummings] has never liked me. He can't stand the ERG. I can't see him coming to any accommodation with anyone. He has huge personal enmity with the true believers in Brexit".[133]

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",[134][135] and later said that it "must now be made a national holiday."[136]

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.[137] 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.[138] 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.[139] 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."[140]

Farage resigned as leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party on 4 July 2016,[20] 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."[78] Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, described Farage as a "retro-nationalist",[141] 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."[142] Paul Nuttall, a UKIP MEP, tweeted that Farage's "drive and belief shook establishment politics to its core and gave us a voice"[143] and Suzanne Evans, former Deputy Chairman of UKIP, said that Farage's resignation surprised her, but "there is room still in Britain for UKIP".[144] 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."[145]

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?".[146] 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.[147] 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.[148]

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.[149] 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.[150] 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.[151]

European Parliament plenary session in January 2019

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."[152] 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".[152]

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.[153][154]

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.[155] In 2018 he joined Leave Means Leave as vice-chairman.[156]

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.[21]

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.[157][158] 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.[159]

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.[23]

On 22 March Farage was officially announced as the new leader of the Brexit Party after founder and former Leader Catherine Blaiklock resigned.[22][160]

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".[161]

On 20 May 2019, a Brexit opponent threw a milkshake at Farage in Newcastle upon Tyne.[162] The assailant, who was arrested at the scene, accused Farage 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."[163] A month later, 32-year-old Paul Crowther pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage at Tyneside Magistrates' Court, where District Judge Bernard Begley ordered him to carry out 150 hours of community service and pay £350 compensation to Farage.[164]

In June 2019, Donald Trump suggested that Farage should be involved in the UK government's Brexit negotiations, because he has "a lot to offer".[165]

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."[166][167]

2019 European election

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Farage led the Brexit Party to win 29 seats and the highest share of the vote. Among the party's MEPs that were elected were former Conservatives Ann Widdecombe and Annunziata Rees-Mogg.[168]

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.[169] He later announced that he would not be standing as a candidate.[170]

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.[171] Farage said that his party and the Conservatives "together would be unstoppable".[172]

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".[172]

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.[173]

Brexit Day

In January 2020, the Greater London Authority granted Leave Means Leave permission[174] to hold a party in Parliament Square on the night the UK left the EU. Farage told the crowd celebrating the occasion on 31 January that "what happens now marks the point of no return. We are never going back". Other speakers included the businessman Tim Martin, politician Peter Bone and broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer.[175] Before the party, Farage expressed support for Big Ben to chime to mark the moment at 11 pm GMT.[174]

In December 2020, Farage celebrated the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, following the agreement's announcement, stating that the "war is over."[176][177]

Political career since 2020

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Farage wrote "protecting us all from an epidemic should be prioritised over the economy", and criticised the herd immunity policy pursued at the time by Boris Johnson's government.[178] However, after Johnson's strategy changed and the UK introduced various lockdown measures to control the disease, Farage said in November 2020 he thought "the cure is worse than the disease" and announced the Brexit Party would rebrand as Reform UK and campaign against further lockdowns.[179]

Farage has described lockdown as "cruel and unnecessary" and endorsed the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocates focused protection of those most vulnerable to COVID-19 with the majority of the population allowed to resume normal life.[180] The approach was conceived by Sunetra Gupta, a professor of theoretical epidemiology at the University of Oxford, as well as Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University and Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University. The scientists were concerned with lockdown's effects on public health and mental health, especially for the underprivileged, which they described as "devastating".[181][182] However, the approach has been criticised by Tedros Adhanom, the director-general of the World Health Organization, and Robert Lechler, the president of the British Academy of Medical Sciences.[183][184]

Involvement in politics outside the UK

2016 presidential election

Farage speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. about the American elections

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.[185] In July 2016, Farage visited the Republican convention in Cleveland with his aide and office manager George Cottrell.[186] Both Farage and Cottrell appeared on American television and engaged in discussions with Trump's aides[186] before Cottrell was arrested by the FBI on 21 federal counts of fraud, money laundering and extortion.[187] Farage "was unaware of Cottrell's alleged illegal activities and his arrest by the FBI came as a shock."[187] Cottrell's arrest left Farage unable to access his personal diary.[186] 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.[188][189]

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.[190] They were invited to the event by staffers for Mississippi governor Phil Bryant while attending the GOP convention.[190] Afterwards, Trump invited them to his campaign rally that night.[190] Trump asked Farage to speak at the rally and introduced him to the crowd as "Mr. Brexit".[190][191]

In October 2016 Farage praised Trump for "dominating" Hillary Clinton, comparing him to a silverback gorilla.[192] 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.[193] 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.[194] 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.[195]

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."[196]

After Trump's victory, Farage said that he "couldn't be happier"[197] and in the same interview referred to outgoing president Barack Obama as a "loathsome individual" and "that Obama creature", remarks which prompted criticism.[197][198] Labour MP John Woodcock criticised Farage's comments, saying they had "clear racist undertones."[198] Farage was the first British politician to speak to Trump after his election, meeting with Trump in his eponymous Manhattan tower.[199]

Farage was listed as a person of interest by the FBI in their investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[200] 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."[201]

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.[202] 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.[202][203]

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.[204] Farage also began hosting a talk show on the British radio station LBC for four nights a week.[205]

Farage in West Palm Beach, Florida in December 2018

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.[206]

Farage endorsed Roy Moore in the United States Senate special election in Alabama.[207] After numerous allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Moore,[208] Farage publicly expressed his scepticism over the allegations.[209] 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."[210]

In July 2018 Farage headlined a fundraiser for Lou Barletta, the Republican nominee in the 2018 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania.[211]

In May 2019 Trump congratulated Farage on his party winning 32 percent of UK votes in that month's 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.[212]

"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."[213][214][215] Farage's remarks were condemned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism[215] 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.[214]

2020 presidential election

After gaining no seats in the 2019 UK 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.[216]

In June 2020, Farage was exempted by the US officials from the country's travel ban under a "national interest" clause, while Trump prepared for his first major election campaign rally since the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 June, he posted a picture from the US and was later spotted at the Trump rally, taking part in a "Team Trump on Tour" panel discussion.[217]

Farage appeared in the audiences of rallies in states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.[218] In an Arizona rally on 29 October, Trump called Farage "one of the most powerful men in Europe" and invited him to speak on the stage, where he described Trump as the "most resilient and brave person" he had ever met.[219] After the day of the election, Farage conceded that Trump lost "fair and square", but said "Donald Trump loses the odd battle, but he doesn't lose wars. He keeps fighting until he wins them".[220]

Austria

Farage with Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in 2013

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.[221]

France

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.[222]

Germany

Farage spoke at a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in advance of the 2017 German federal election, having been personally invited by the party's deputy leader Beatrix von Storch.[223]

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.[224]

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".[225][226]

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.[227] He believes that tax avoidance is caused by "punitive tax rates", and wants "fairer" taxes as a way to prevent it.[228]

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,[229] 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".[230] 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".[231] 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."[230]

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".[232] In a speech made to the European parliament on 11 September 2013, Farage cited news, 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".[233] Farage has described climate change as a "scam".[234]

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.[235]

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".[236]

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.[237]

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.[238]

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.[239] He told a Channel 4 documentary in 2015 that there is a "fifth column" of Islamic extremists in the United Kingdom.[240] 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."[241]

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."[242][243][244] 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."[245]

Farage called on the British government in 2013 to accept more refugees from the Syrian Civil War.[246] He later said that those refugees should be of the country's Christian minority, due to the existence of nearer Muslim-majority safe countries.[247] 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.[248]

In an interview in 2014, Farage suggested that people with HIV should be banned from moving to the UK.[249] During the televised debates in advance of the 2015 election, he said that "You can come into Britain from anywhere in the world and get diagnosed with HIV and get the retro-viral drugs that cost up to £25,000 per year per patient... What we need to do is to put the NHS there for British people and families, who in many cases have paid into the system for decades."[250]

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".[251] Polish aristocrat John Zylinski challenged Farage to a sword duel in Hyde Park over Farage's comments on immigration.[252]

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".[253] 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.[254] 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.[255]

Farage has criticised Britain's close ties with Saudi Arabia.[256] 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."[257] 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.[258]

Farage called French President Emmanuel Macron a "globalist" who wants "many more powers to be centralized in Brussels, powers taken from the member states".[259] Farage accused Erdoğan's Turkey of "blackmailing" the EU over the European migrant crisis and Turkey's proposed European membership.[260] 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?"[261] Farage has criticised what he sees as EU militarism agitating western Ukrainians against Russia.[262] 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".[253]

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".[263] 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.[264]

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".[265] He has also said that there was no link between responsible handgun ownership and gun crime.[266]

LGBT rights

When asked on LBC in 2014, after same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales, whether he supported gay marriage, he answered that he does "not support the idea of same-sex marriages, all the while we’re under the auspices of the European Court of Human Rights".[267][268] He added that he would not campaign to abolish same-sex marriage.[267] He also believes that people who oppose same-sex marriage, such as Christian and Muslim communities, should be allowed to speak out about their beliefs.[228]

In 2019 Farage defended Ann Widdecombe, a Brexit Party candidate, for remarks that were perceived to be supportive of gay conversion therapy. Widdecombe had stated that science may one day "produce an answer" to homosexuality. Farage later defended Widdecombe for these remarks, explaining that "these things are a matter of conscience".[269][270]

Conspiracy theories

In 2014, Farage appeared in an online documentary, Bilderberg: The Movie, 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."[271] Farage has appeared alongside conspiracy theorists from the LaRouche movement and InfoWars.[272][273]

In 2019, Farage described financier George Soros as "the biggest danger to the entire western world" and alleged Soros seeks "to undermine democracy and to fundamentally change the makeup, demographically, of the whole European continent". As Soros is of Jewish descent, the Jewish Community Security Trust said "Nigel Farage should ensure that his language does not help [antisemitic conspiracy theories] to spread in British politics".[274]

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		UKIP	952	1.7	Not elected
1997 general election	Salisbury		UKIP	3,332	5.7	Not elected
2001 general election	Bexhill and Battle		UKIP	3,474	7.8	Not elected
2005 general election	South Thanet		UKIP	2,079	5.0	Not elected
2006 by-election	Bromley and Chislehurst		UKIP	2,347	8.1	Not elected
2010 general election	Buckingham		UKIP	8,410	17.4	Not elected
2015 general election	South Thanet		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		UKIP	12,423	5.4	Not elected
1999 European election	South East England		UKIP	144,514	9.7	Elected
2004 European election	South East England		UKIP	431,111	19.5	Elected
2009 European election	South East England		UKIP	440,002	18.8	Elected
2014 European election	South East England		UKIP	751,439	32.1	Elected
2019 European election	South East England		Brexit Party	915,686	36.1	Elected

Broadcasting career

Fox News

In 2017, he began contributing to the American television network Fox News.[275]

LBC

From January 2017 to June 2020 Farage hosted The Nigel Farage Show on the UK talk radio station LBC.[7] The show was broadcast live on Monday to Thursday evenings.[276]

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.[277]

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.[278]

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.[279]

On 11 June 2020, LBC announced that Farage would be leaving the station "with immediate effect", noting that his contract had been up for renewal.[7]

Personal life

Farage attending the 2009 Ashes series at Lord's Cricket Ground

Farage lives in Single Street,[280] a hamlet in the London Borough of Bromley, "around the corner from his mother".[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.[281] In April 2018, Farage said that the children have both British and German passports and that they speak "perfect German".[282] Farage has spoken of how they have been teased because of their relation to him.[27] 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.[8] Farage has employed his wife Kirsten as his parliamentary secretary[283] and in April 2014 he said that "nobody else could do that job".[283][284] 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".[285]

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.[286]

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.[287] 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.[237]

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.[288] A second book, The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything, was released by Biteback Publishing in 2015.[237]

Farage is a keen cricket fan and has appeared on Test Match Special.[289] He appeared in an advertisement for the bookmaker Paddy Power ahead of golf's 2014 Ryder Cup.[290] However, due to spinal injuries since his 2010 plane crash, he cannot play golf.[291] Farage is also an association football fan, and supports Crystal Palace FC.[292] He likes to relax by fishing alone at night on the Kent coast.[27] Farage is a smoker[293] and also fond of beer, this forming part of his public image.[294] 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.[295]

Farage is a Christian. In 2014 he described himself as a "somewhat lapsed" member of the Church of England.[296]

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.[297] 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.[298] 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.[299]

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.[300][301]

In December 2016 he was shortlisted for Time magazine's Person of the Year award.[302]

In February 2020, an honorary doctorate of laws degree was presented to Farage by Jerry Falwell Jr. during Liberty University's weekly convocation for his role in Brexit and 'support of freedom' in Europe and the United States.[303][304]

See also

• Brexit: The Uncivil War, a 2019 film in which Nigel Farage is played by Paul Ryan
• The Farage Garage, a nickname given to the Customs clearance facility and lorry park being developed near Sevington, Kent (near Dover).[305]

Footnotes

1. "Biography of Nigel Farage at the European Parliament". European Parliament. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
2. Farage, Nigel (4 December 2018). "With a heavy heart, I am leaving Ukip. It is not the Brexit party our nation so badly needs". The Daily Telegraph.
3. "Nigel Farage is sharing secret 'bachelor pad' with a politician". The Independent. 5 February 2017.
4. While Farage himself pronounces it thus, he has stated that he does not mind if the alternative pronunciation of /ˈfærɪdʒ/ is used by others – Farage vs Paxman, Newsnight (YouTube – UKIP webmaster's channel), 18 April 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
5. "The Nigel Farage story". BBC News. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
6. Smith, Norman (5 October 2016). "Nigel Farage steps back in at UKIP as Diane James quits". BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
7. "Nigel Farage to leave radio station LBC 'with immediate effect'". The Guardian. London. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
8. Goldsmith, Rosie (4 December 2012). "Profile: Nigel Farage, UKIP leader". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
9. "UKIP's alliance in Europe rescued by Polish MEP". BBC News. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
10. Waterfield, Bruno (25 February 2010). "Ukip's Nigel Farage faces reprimand after calling Herman Van Rompuy 'wet rag'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016.
11. Adams, Tim (21 July 2012). "Nigel Farage: I was never scared of being out on a limb". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012.
12. Sparrow, Andrew (3 September 2010). "Nigel Farage to stand for Ukip leadership again". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
13. Dale, Iain (2 October 2013). "Top 100 most influential Right-wingers". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
14. "Man of the Moment". The Times. London. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.(subscription required)
15. "UK's Eurosceptic UKIP party storms to victory in Europe vote". Reuters. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
16. Mason, Rowena (26 May 2014). "10 key lessons from the European election results". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
17. Volkery, Carsten (27 May 2014). "Lurching Right: UKIP Win Creates Pressure for Cameron and Europe". Der Spiegel. Hamburg. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014.
18. "Nigel Farage resigns as UKIP leader as the party vote rises". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015.
19. Bennett, Asa (24 June 2016). "Nigel Farage has earned his place in history as the man who led Britain out of the EU". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
20. "UKIP leader Nigel Farage stands down". BBC News. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016.
21. "Former leader Nigel Farage quits UKIP". BBC News. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
22. "Nigel Farage back in frontline politics as Brexit Party leader". BBC News. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
23. "I am now sitting as an MEP for The Brexit Party in the European Parliament". Nigel Farage. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
24. Durkin, Martin (30 March 2014). "My six months with normal Nigel Farage". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.
25. 'FARAGE, Nigel Paul', Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, November 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
26. Farage, Nigel (2011). Flying Free. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849540940.
27. Landale, James (6 March 2015). "Leader profile: 24 hours with Nigel Farage". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015.
28. Meltzer, Tom (10 May 2013). "Is Nigel Farage a racist?". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
29. Farage, Nigel (3 March 2015). "Nigel Farage: Ukip's immigration policy is built on fairness" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
30. "News of the day". The Globe. 6 September 1870. p. 7. A German named Nicholas Schrod was charged at Bow-street this morning with assaulting two young men named Glanfield and Collins. The complainants were bidding each other good night in Francis-street when the conversation turned upon the war. One of them said that 40 Englishmen could beat 80 Germans. It appeared that the prisoner was leaning from the window and heard this. He came down stairs, charged the complainants with improper conduct, and assaulted them.
31. "John Dewes obituary". The Times. London. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.(subscription required)
32. Absolute Radio (17 April 2015). "Nigel Farage on Absolute Radio: Full Interview". YouTube. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
33. "Nigel Farage schooldays letter reveals concerns over fascism". Channel 4. Chennel 4. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017.
34. "Profile: Nigel Farage". BBC News. 12 September 2006. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
35. "Question Time: This week's panel". 28 March 2007. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
36. Watts, Robert (11 March 2007). "Making plans with Nigel". The Sunday Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008.
37. "NIGEL FARAGE". 19 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
38. "Brexiteers tried to compare Nigel Farage to James Bond and the jokes wrote themselves". indy100. 3 July 2019.
39. "Profile: Jacques Barrot". BBC News. 22 November 2004. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
40. The prohibition contained in the French penal code against mentioning crimes covered by an amnesty only concerns French officials who may hear of such crimes in the course of their duties (CP L133-11), and does not apply generally (L133-10).
41. "MEP Nigel Farage replies to Parliament President Josep Borrell". 18 November 2004. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
42. "Barrot survives call to quit". The Guardian, 26 November 2004
43. Castle, Stephen (26 May 2005). "Barroso survives confidence debate over free holiday with Greek tycoon". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
44. "Commissioners Under Fire for Luxury Trips". Deutsche Welle. 18 April 2005.
45. Rennie, David (26 May 2005). "Euro Tories suspend MEP in row over EU president". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
46. Hix, Simon; Noury, Abdul G.; Roland, Gérard (2007). Democratic Politics in the European Parliament. Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0521872881.
47. Neuger, James G. (25 May 2005). "Barroso Fights No-Confidence Vote Amid French Treaty Debate". Bloomberg L.P. New York. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
48. "Barroso rebuffs yacht questions". BBC News. 25 May 2005. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
49. "Barroso savages British Tories for 'looking like UKIP'". EURACTIV. 12 September 2013.
50. "Tirade against 'damp rag' EU president shocks MEPs". BBC News. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
51. "Nigel Farage harangues EU President Herman van Rompuy". EUX.TV. YouTube. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
52. "MEP Nigel Farage fined over 'insulting' tirade". BBC News. 2 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
53. "EP President Jerzy BUZEK on MEP Nigel FARAGE – 68659". European Parliament. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
54. Long, Camilla (21 March 2010). "Nigel Farage: Brimming over with bile and booze". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
55. "UKIP anger at prince's EU speech". BBC News. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
56. Helm, Toby (24 May 2009). "Ukip leader boasts of his £2m in expenses". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
57. "European election: Farage sure UKIP will win Scotland seat". BBC News. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
58. Gardham, Magnus; Donnelly, Brian (10 May 2014). "Police keep the peace as Ukip leader returns to Edinburgh". The Herald. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
59. "Ukip and Front National lead populist earthquake". Financial Times. London. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
60. "European Elections: UKIP Tops British Polls". Sky News. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
61. Hawkins, Ross (12 June 2014). "UKIP leader Nigel Farage declares £205,603 in gifts". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
62. "Electoral Commission concludes two party finance cases". Electoral Commission (United Kingdom). 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
63. "Luxembourg tax files: how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale". The Guardian. 5 November 2014.
64. Ian Traynor (27 November 2014). "Jean-Claude Juncker saved from censure over Luxembourg tax schemes". the Guardian.
65. "Jean-Claude Juncker faces vote calling for his resignation". Financial Times. 18 November 2014.
66. "Socialists slam extreme right's censure motion against Juncker". EURACTIV. 24 November 2014.
67. "Nigel Farage is the new Leader of the UK Independence Party" (Press release). UKIP. 12 September 2006. Archived from the original on 13 October 2006.
68. Wheeler, Brian (5 December 2006). "UKIP leader 'offered Tory seat'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
69. "UKIP 'voice of British majority'". BBC News. 7 October 2006. Archived from the original on 19 September 2013.
70. "London Mayoral Elections". Retrieved 24 October 2006.
71. Barnett, Ruth (5 November 2010). "Nigel Farage Re-Elected UKIP Party Leader". Sky News. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
72. "Vote 2014 Election Results for the EU Parliament UK regions – BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017.
73. "Members". efdgroup.eu. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
74. "Nigel Farage resigns as UKIP leader". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
75. "Farage stays as UKIP leader after resignation rejected". BBC News. 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
76. "Nigel Farage hints at Labour by-election". BBC News. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
77. Mason, Rowena (4 July 2016). "Nigel Farage resigns as Ukip leader after 'achieving political ambition' of Brexit". The Guardian. London, UK. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
78. Hutton, Robert (4 July 2016). "Farage Resigns as UKIP Leader After 'Winning Country Back'". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
79. "Brexit: UKIP leader Nigel Farage resigns". Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. After running divisive campaign to leave the EU, Farage quits, while Britain faces economic and political challenges.
80. "Farage to quit as leader of UKIP". BBC News. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
81. "Farage to stand against Speaker". BBC News. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009.
82. Dowling, Tim (7 May 2010). "Election results: Ukip's Nigel Farage finishes behind John Bercow and Flipper". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
83. Edwards, Richard (7 May 2010). "Ukip's Nigel Farage has lucky escape after election stunt plane crash". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
84. "Nigel Farage injured in plane crash in Northamptonshire". BBC News. 6 May 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010.
85. Farndale, Nigel (18 November 2010). "Nigel Farage: born to rant". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
86. "AAIB Bulletin: 11/2010 G-BWDF 6 May 2010 at 0659 hrs" (PDF). Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
87. "Crash pilot 'threatened to kill UKIP's Nigel Farage'". BBC News. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
88. "Nigel Farage death threats crash pilot guilty". BBC News. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
89. "Farage-threat pilot found dead". BBC News. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
90. Eaton, George (4 May 2012). "How UKIP became "Fresh Choice for London"". New Statesman. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
91. "Nigel Farage calls on Conservative MPs to join UKIP". BBC News. 6 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
92. Green, William (31 December 2012). "Ukip's Nigel Farage named top UK politician of 2012". MSN News. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
93. "Local elections 2013: Nigel Farage's Ukip surges to best ever showing, winning 150 seats". The Daily Telegraph. London. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013.
94. "Survation for the Mail on Sunday, Reaction to the Woolwich incident". Survation (blog). 25 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
95. "Nigel Farage forced to flee Edinburgh's Royal Mile". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
96. "Farage swarmed by angry protesters in Edinburgh". BBC News. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
97. Carrell, Severin (16 May 2013). "Nigel Farage flees barrage of abuse from Edinburgh protesters". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
98. "Farrago as Nigel Farage is rescued by police from protesters". The Herald. Glasgow. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
99. "Nigel Farage blasts 'anti-English' protesters". BBC News. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
100. Syal, Rajeev (21 June 2013). "Nigel Farage admits setting up tax haven trust fund was a mistake". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
101. "Farage gives 'a big no' to publishing tax returns". Morning Star. 12 April 2016. p. 3. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
102. Mason, Rowena (13 February 2015). "Nigel Farage defends and denies 'straightforward' tax avoidance". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
103. "Nigel Farage admits offshore tax 'mistake'". BBC News. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
104. Eaton, George (21 June 2013). "Watch: Nigel Farage denounces tax avoidance in speech last month". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016.
105. Mason, Rowena (4 June 2014). "Most forms of legal tax avoidance are ok, says Nigel Farage". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.
106. Stone, Jon; Cooper, Charlie (11 April 2016). "Nigel Farage is refusing to publish his tax return". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
107. "Will Nigel Farage Publish Tax Return? "Absolutely Not"". LBC radio. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016.
108. Syal, Rajeev (3 April 2014). "Nigel Farage uses private company to reduce tax bill". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
109. Quinn, Ben (13 March 2019). "'Skint' Nigel Farage's company assets grew almost £400k last year". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
110. "Nigel Farage: I will stand as MP at next general election". BBC News. 6 October 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
111. Francis, Paul. "UKIP leader Nigel Farage could go for Folkestone and Hythe constituency at 2015 election". Kent Messenger. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
112. "UKIP's Nigel Farage seeking South Thanet selection". BBC News. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
113. "Scottish independence: Nigel Farage to appear at UKIP pro-Union rally". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
114. "UKIP's Nigel Farage invited on leaders' TV debate". BBC News. 13 October 2014. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
115. Wright, Oliver (31 May 2013). "Nigel Farage warns: Let Ukip into studio for TV election debates or I'll take you to court". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013.
116. "Election debate 2015 LIVE: Cameron and Miliband face rival leaders". The Daily Telegraph. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015.
117. Apps, Peter (16 March 2015). "Nigel Farage will quit as Ukip leader if he fails to win a seat at general election". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
118. "London protesters' chase UKIP leader Farage out of pub'". BBC News. 22 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
119. "Farage calls anti-Ukip protesters who forced him out of pub 'scum'". The Guardian. 23 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
120. "Election live: results day – as it happened". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
121. "UKIP Rejects Nigel Farage's Resignation". News.sky.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
122. "UKIP adviser sacked in Nigel Farage row". BBC News. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
123. Mason, Rowena (14 May 2015). "Nigel Farage 'facing a coup' over Ukip leadership". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
124. Ward, Alexander (16 May 2015). "UKIP sent insider into protest group". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
125. Rowena Mason (16 May 2015). "Ukip spy who infiltrated protest group 'tried to encourage abuse of Farage'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
126. Holehouse, Matthew (26 June 2016). "The EU will treat Britain like Greece". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
127. "Nigel Farage: Narrow Remain win may lead to second referendum". BBC News. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
128. "'Monstrous interference': UK pols furious at Obama's plan to intervene in EU debate". Fox News. 22 April 2016.
129. "UKIP's Nigel Farage: I support both EU 'Out' campaigns". BBC News. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
130. "EU referendum: Nigel Farage tells Leave campaigners to focus on migration". BBC News. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
131. Aitkenhead, Decca (20 May 2016). "Nigel Farage: 'Vote Leave brief every day that I'm toxic. Quite the opposite'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
132. Wright, Oliver; Chorley, Matt (31 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings can't be trusted at No 10, says Nigel Farage". The Times. Retrieved 30 November 2020. Mr Cummings marginalised Mr Farage, who he believed alienated critical swing voters with his hardline rhetoric on immigration.
133. Bennett, Asa (31 July 2019). "Dominic Cummings and Nigel Farage: the Brexit referendum rivalry that continues to rage". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
134. "UK votes to leave the EU in historic referendum". ITV. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
135. "EU Referendum: Farage declares 'independence day'". BBC News. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
136. "June 23rd must now be made a national holiday. #IndependenceDay". Nigel Farage. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016.
137. Stone, Jon (28 June 2016). "Nigel Farage Mocked and Heckled by MEPs During Extraordinary Speech". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
138. "'You're not laughing now': Nigel Farage booed at EU general assembly". CBC News. Associated Press. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016. Independence Party leader and Brexit advocate predicts Britain will not be only country to leave EU
139. Deacon, Michael (28 June 2016). "Not laughing now, are you? Brussels attacks Nigel Farage over Brexit... and he loves every minute". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
140. "Former Belgian Prime Minister ridicules Nigel Farage". The Independent. London. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
141. Rankin, Jennifer (5 July 2016). "Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson are unpatriotic quitters, says Juncker". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
142. Osborne, Samuel (4 July 2016). "Caroline Lucas nails Nigel Farage's legacy (and it's not flattering)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
143. Paul Nuttall [@paulnuttallukip] (4 July 2016). "Without Nigel Farage we wouldn't be where we are today. His drive and belief shook establishment politics to its core and gave us a voice" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
144. @BBCWorldatOne (4 July 2016). ".@SuzanneEvans1 says she was "surprised" by Nigel Farage's resignation but "there is room still in Britain for UKIP" #wato" (Tweet). Retweeted by Suzanne Evans – via Twitter.
145. Liddle, Rod (4 July 2016). "In praise of Nigel Farage". The Spectator. London. Archived from the original on 7 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
146. Withnall, Adam (6 November 2016). "Nigel Farage forced to admit that the EU referendum was only 'advisory'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
147. "Nigel Farage warns of Brexit 'anger' protests". BBC News. 6 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
148. Sridharan, Vasudevan (4 November 2016). "Brexit challenger Gina Miller blames lies by Nigel Farage and tabloid media for death threats". IBTimes. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
149. Collins, Hatty (7 November 2016). "Brexit: Nigel Farage to lead 100,000-strong march on day Government appeals High Court ruling". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
150. Watts, Joe (25 November 2016). "Nigel Farage's Brexit march on Supreme Court cancelled amid claims it might be hijacked by far right groups". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
151. Murphy, Brian (28 November 2016). "Britain's pro-Brexit party picks new leader to replace Trump ally Nigel Farage". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016.
152. "Nigel Farage humiliated on TV by 6-year-old girl". The Independent. 4 March 2017. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
153. "General Election 2017: Nigel Farage won't stand as an MP". BBC News. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
154. "Nigel Farage Announces He WON'T Stand To Be MP Despite Prospect Of 'Easy' Win". The Huffington Post. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
155. "Nigel Farage's Ukip backer Arron Banks bolsters his DUP bid". The Times. 13 May 2018.
156. Farage, Nigel (17 August 2018). "The time has come to teach the political class a lesson: I'm back fighting for a real Brexit". The Telegraph.
157. Andy Bruce (8 February 2019). "Farage ready to be new 'Brexit Party' candidate if EU exit delayed". Reuters. Retrieved 8 February 2019. A filing by the Electoral Commission showed the Brexit Party had been approved this week to field candidates across England, Scotland and Wales.
158. Nigel Farage (8 February 2019). "My new Brexit party stands ready to defend democracy". The Telegraph.
159. Pickard, Jim (8 February 2019). "New 'Brexit Party' backed by Nigel Farage launches". Financial Times. London. A new political party backed by Nigel Farage has been launched in an attempt to attract hardline Conservative activists unhappy with Theresa May's attempt to forge a compromise Brexit plan.
160. "Leader of Nigel Farage's party resigns over anti-Islam messages". The Guardian. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
161. "Farage would 'do deal with devil' for Brexit". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
162. Magra, Iliana (21 May 2019). "Why Are Milkshakes Being Thrown at Right-Wing Politicians Like Nigel Farage?". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
163. "Milkshake thrown at Nigel Farage". BBC News. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
164. "Man to pay Farage over milkshake assault". 18 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
165. "Trump: Prepare for no deal and send in Farage". 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
166. Stone, Jon (21 May 2019). "Brexit Party: EU opens investigation into Nigel Farage's lavish gifts from millionaire tycoon". The Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
167. Stone, Jon (18 May 2019). "Nigel Farage facing investigation by EU authorities over lavish gifts from millionaire tycoon". The Independent.
168. Perraudin, Frances (27 May 2019). "UK winners and losers in the European elections". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
169. Aodha, Gráinne Ní. "'No deal is the best deal': Nigel Farage unveils 635 Brexit Party election candidates". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
170. "General election 2019: Nigel Farage will not stand as candidate". BBC News. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
171. "Brexit party: Farage seeks election pact with Conservatives". The Guardian. 8 September 2019.
172. "No 10 rejects Nigel Farage election pact proposal". 11 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
173. Loucaides, Darren (13 December 2019). "The Brexit party folded, but make no mistake: Farage won it for Johnson". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
174. Brewis, Harriet (15 January 2020). "Nigel Farage's Leave Means Leave Brexit party: What is the event about?". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
175. Duncan, Conrad (1 February 2020). "Leave voters mark Brexit with raucous celebrations and boos for pro-EU politicians". The Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
176. Fisher, Lucy (24 December 2020). "Nigel Farage declares 'war is over' as Brexit deal is done". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
177. Farage, Nigel (27 December 2020). "Boris has betrayed our fishermen but he still deserves credit for bringing the Brexit wars to an end". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
178. Farage, Nigel (9 March 2020). "Yes, protecting us all from an epidemic should be prioritized over the economy". Newsweek. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
179. Loucaides, Darren (5 November 2020). "Here's why lockdown is Nigel Farage's new targets". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
180. Farage, Nigel; Tice, Richard (1 November 2020). "We're relaunching the Brexit Party to fight this cruel and unnecessary lockdown". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
181. Sample, Ian (6 October 2020). "Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
182. Swinford, Steven (7 October 2020). "Lift coronavirus curbs and go for herd immunity, urges coalition of scientists". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
183. Staff and agencies in Geneva (12 October 2020). "WHO chief says herd immunity approach to pandemic 'unethical'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
184. Lechler, Professor Sir Robert. "Navigating COVID-19 through the volume of competing voices | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
185. Withnall, Adam (15 May 2016). "Nigel Farage would vote for Trump over Clinton 'if put up against a wall'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
186. Luke Heighton (13 August 2016). "Nigel Farage's aide arrested as FBI probe links to money laundering and 'drug traffickers'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
187. David Millward, Nigel Farage aide, George Cottrell, denies 21 counts of fraud, money laundering and extortion Archived 2 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Telegraph (20 August 2016).
188. Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Former Farage aide gave US information in plea deal, court files show Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian (7 June 2017).
189. Rachael Revesz, Nigel Farage's top aide sentenced for wire fraud Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Independent (1 March 2017).
190. Roig-Franzia, Manuel; Helderman, Rosalind S.; Booth, WIlliam; Hamburger, Tom; Timberg, Craig; Crites, Alice; Dawsey, Josh; Tate, Julie; Adam, Karla (28 June 2018). "How the 'Bad Boys of Brexit' forged ties with Russia and the Trump campaign — and came under investigators' scrutiny". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
191. Cadwalladr, Carole; Jukes, Peter (9 June 2018). "Arron Banks 'met Russian officials multiple times before Brexit vote'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
192. Robin de Peyer (10 October 2016). "Nigel Farage praises 'silverback gorilla' Donald Trump for 'dominating' Hillary Clinton". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
193. "Nigel Farage defends Donald Trump over 'alpha-male boasting'". The Guardian. London. 9 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
194. Peter Walker (12 October 2016). "Nigel Farage criticised for defending Donald Trump by Ukip MEPs". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 15 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
195. Jane Martinson, Rowena Mason and Molly Redden (15 October 2016). "Nigel Farage backtracks on Donald Trump support amid groping claims". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
196. Farage, Nigel (17 March 2015). The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849548960. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018 – via Google Books.
197. "Nigel Farage calls 'creature' Barack Obama a 'loathsome individual'". The Independent. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
198. Laura Hughes (10 November 2016). "Nigel Farage causes controversy describing Barack Obama as a 'loathsome creature' – and warns Donald Trump not to 'touch' Theresa May". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
199. "Nigel Farage discusses 'freedom and winning' in meeting with Trump". The Guardian. London. 13 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
200. Kirchgaessner, Stephanie; Hopkins, Nick; Harding, Luke (1 June 2017). "Nigel Farage is 'person of interest' in FBI investigation into Trump and Russia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
201. "Nigel Farage dismisses report of link to FBI Russia investigation Archived 5 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine". Sky News. 1 June 2017.
202. Angela Dewan & Stephanie Halasz, Nigel Farage for US ambassador? Trump tweet has UK squirming Archived 2 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, CNN (22 November 2016).
203. Stephen Castle, U.K. Rejects Donald Trump's Call for Nigel Farage to Be Made Ambassador Archived 8 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, New York Times (22 November 2016).
204. "Nigel Farage hired by Fox News as a political analyst". BBC News. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
205. "Nigel Farage to host LBC radio talkshow". The Guardian. London. 5 January 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
206. Buncombe, Andrew (11 May 2018). "Nigel Farage to start petition to secure Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
207. "Nigel Farage to Campaign for Roy Moore in Alabama Senate Race". The New York Times. 24 September 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017.
208. "Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32". The Washington Post. 9 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017.
209. Buncombe, Andrew (13 November 2017). "Nigel Farage questions Roy Moore's sexual assault allegations". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018.
210. "Nigel Farage on Being Called an 'Anti-Semite,' Putin 'Being a Questionable Human Being,' and His Anti-EU Allies". Newsweek. New York. 10 May 2018.
211. Gabbatt, Adam (21 July 2018). "Nigel Farage flies under radar to support Trump-backed Senate candidate". The Guardian.
212. "Trump: Johnson and Farage are good guys". BBC News. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
213. "UK's Farage says US Jews have disproportionate influence over politics". The Times of Israel. 1 November 2017.
214. Nicole Goodkind, Jews Should Concern Americans More Than Russian Influence, Nigel Farage Says Archived 2 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek (1 November 2017).
215. Nigel Farage urged to apologise for ‘Jewish lobby’ remark Archived 1 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Jewish News (31 October 2017).
216. Diver, Tony; White, Josh (13 December 2019). "Nigel Farage reveals he will campaign for Donald Trump next year as Brexit Party wins no seats". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
217. Cowburn, Ashley (20 June 2020). "Nigel Farage exempt from US travel ban under 'national interest' clause ahead of Trump rally". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
218. Farage, Nigel (6 November 2020). "Nigel Farage: I danced to Queen and Trump invited me on stage — my time with his fanatical support base". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
219. Murray, Jessica (29 October 2020). "Nigel Farage heaps praise on Donald Trump at Arizona rally". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
220. Morris, Nigel (6 November 2020). "Nigel Farage: Don't rule out Donald Trump running for the 2024 US election". inews. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
221. Roland Oliphant (4 December 2016). "'Don't interfere,' Austria's far-right presidential candidate tells Nigel Farage". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
222. Stone, Jon (4 May 2017). "Nigel Farage endorses far-right Marine Le Pen to be French president". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
223. "Nigel Farage given standing ovation at German far-right AfD election rally". Sky News. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
224. "MEPs angry at EU's Olli Rehn over treatment of Cyprus". BBC News. 17 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
225. "Nigel Farage – Europe Trapped Inside an Economic Prison (A collage of speeches by UKIP Leader Nigel Farage) MEP in the European Parliament". 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
226. "Europarl speech archives, with full list of all of Mr Farage's speeches in plenary that are referred to in original source video". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010.
227. "Nigel Farage calls for five-year ban on migrant benefits". BBC News. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
228. Walton, Gregory (12 February 2015). "Nigel Farage speaks out about gay marriage and tax avoidance on Newsnight". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
229. "AV referendum: Where parties stand". BBC News. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
230. Blackburn, David (4 May 2011). "Farage: AV is the thin of the wedge, that's why we support it". Coffee House. The Spectator. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
231. Hasan, Medhi (2 June 2015). "Why does it take Nigel Farage to make the case for electoral reform?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
232. Ward, Bob (4 March 2013). "Ukip's energy and climate policies under the spotlight". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
233. Mathiesen, Karl (18 September 2013). "How fast is Arctic sea ice melting?". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
234. Mason, Rowena (7 May 2019). "Nigel Farage denies being conspiracy theorist after far-right talkshow appearances". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
235. "Nigel Farage: I've Never Done Drugs, But Legalise Them". Huffington Post UK. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
236. "Nigel Farage Says Smoking Ban 'Silly And Illiberal'". Huffington Post. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
237. Farage, Nigel (13 March 2015). "Nigel Farage: Cancer, a lemon-sized testicle and how the NHS failed me". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
238. Gander, Kashmira (6 April 2015). "Nigel Farage on the NHS: Half of voters agrees that HIV patients cost UK too much money". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
239. Bromwich, Kathryn (30 August 2014). "Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage: their wit and wisdom". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
240. Mason, Rowena (12 March 2015). "Nigel Farage: British Muslim "fifth column" fuels immigration fear". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
241. Graham, Georgia. "Nigel Farage: 'the basic principle' of Enoch Powell's River of Blood speech is right". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
242. Gover, Dominic (16 May 2014). "Ukip's Nigel Farage Tells LBC Radio: I Don't Want Romanians as my Neighbours". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014.
243. Pickard, Jim (16 May 2014). "Nigel Farage radio interview brought to abrupt close". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014.
244. Wintour, Patrick (16 May 2014). "Nigel Farage aide disrupts interview amid racism and expenses claims". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
245. "UKIP leader stands by his assertion that people have a right to be concerned if a group of Romanians move in next door". UKIP. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014.
246. "Nigel Farage calls on government to let Syrian refugees into UK". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
247. Mason, Rowena (30 December 2013). "Nigel Farage rows back on call to grant asylum to Syrian refugees". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
248. "Migrant crisis: Farage says EU 'mad' to accept so many". BBC News. 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
249. "Inside the Mind of Nigel Farage: 'I Want to Be Minister for Europe'". Newsweek. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
250. "Election 2015: Nigel Farage defends HIV comments". BBC News. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
251. "Nigel Farage: Indian and Australian immigrants better than eastern Europeans". The Guardian. 22 April 2015.
252. "Polish Prince challenges Nigel Farage to a sword duel over immigration comments". The Daily Telegraph. 13 April 2015.
253. "#Leave UKIP: Farage's top comments on the Middle East". Al Bawaba. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
254. Holehouse, Matthew (19 April 2015). "Nigel Farage: David Cameron 'directly caused' Libyan migrant crisis". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015.
255. Farage, Nigel (29 August 2013). "EXCLUSIVE 'We're tired of wars' – Nigel Farage explains why we MUST resist striking Syria". Daily Express. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
256. "We need to be gutsy! Farage calls for Britain to cut Saudi ties after mass executions". Daily Express. 4 January 2016.
257. "Farage: We Need To Re-Appraise Our Relationship With Saudi Arabia Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine". LBC. 3 January 2015.
258. "Nigel Farage on Trump's handling of Saudi Arabia". Fox News. 21 November 2018.
259. "Nigel Farage on Being Called an 'Anti-Semite,' Putin 'Being a Questionable Human Being,' and His Anti-EU Allies". Newsweek. 5 October 2018.
260. "Nigel Farage accuses Turkey of 'blackmailing' the EU over the refugee crisis". The Independent. 9 March 2016.
261. "Nigel Farage: I admire Vladimir Putin". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.
262. Wintour, Patrick (28 March 2014). "Nigel Farage hits out at 'militarist' EU over Ukraine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
263. "Nigel Farage: West wrong on Iran sanctions". Jewish Chronicle. 11 July 2013.
264. "Nigel Farage Calls Out Jeremy Corbyn's Silence On Iran". LBC. 2 January 2018.
265. Graham, Georgia (24 January 2014). "Hand guns should be legalised and licensed, Nigel Farage has said". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
266. Williams, Jennifer (25 January 2014). "Farage: No return to 'Gunchester' if handguns legalised". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
267. Holehouse, Matthew (28 March 2014). "Nigel Farage on gay marriage: 'I think we are opening a very big can of worms here'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
268. Wintour, Patrick (28 March 2014). "Gay marriage: Nigel Farage refuses to say 'I do'". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
269. Cowburn, Ashley (4 June 2019). "Nigel Farage defends 'gay conversion' endorsement from Brexit Party's Ann Widdecombe". The Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
270. Weaver, Matthew (4 June 2019). "Nigel Farage defends Ann Widdecombe over gay therapy comments". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
271. Savage, Michael (18 August 2019). "Brexit party MEPs' links to alt-right media agenda exposed". The Observer.
272. "Overview: The Ugly Truth About the Brexit Party". HOPE not hate.
273. Walker, Peter (6 May 2019). "How Farage adapted his voice to Infowars' toxic worldview". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
274. Walker, Peter (12 May 2019). "Farage criticised for using antisemitic themes to criticise Soros". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
275. Lejeune, Tristan (20 January 2017). "Fox News signs Nigel Farage, backer of Trump and Brexit". TheHill. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
276. "LBC". LBC. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
277. "Snow and Farage cleared over Brexit rally remarks". 5 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
278. "Donald Trump interview: Boris Johnson urged to join forces with Nigel Farage and beat 'bad' Jeremy Corbyn". 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
279. "Rage Against the Machine demand Nigel Farage change podcast name". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
280. "Surrey County Council – MEP details – Nigel Farage MEP". Surrey County Council. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
281. Watts, Robert (11 March 2007). "Making plans with Nigel". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
282. Elgot, Jessica (18 April 2018). "Nigel Farage: two of my children have German passports". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
283. Holehouse, Matthew (22 April 2014). "Nigel Farage: no Briton could work as hard as my German wife". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
284. Robinson, Nick (22 April 2014). "UKIP immigration policy – the wife test". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
285. "Nigel Farage and wife Kirsten 'living separate lives'". BBC News. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
286. "Nigel Farage: I'm separated, I'm skint". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
287. Farage, Nigel (13 March 2015). "Nigel Farage: A car crash nearly killed me, but at least I got a wife out of it". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
288. Farage, Nigel (2010). Fighting Bull. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849540391.
289. "Nigel Farage: Real Politicians Love Cricket". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
290. Lockhart, Keely (25 September 2014). "Nigel Farage finally admits his love for all things European in Paddy Power advert for Ryder Cup". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
291. Dodds, Laurence (16 March 2015). "Sixteen things we learned from Nigel Farage's new book, The Purple Revolution". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
292. "Which football teams do the party leaders support?". Retrieved 29 March 2018.
293. Godwin, Richard (29 April 2013). "Nigel Farage: have you met the cretins in Westminster? Our candidates can't be any worse than them". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
294. Dalingwater, Adrian (22 April 2015). "Connecting with voters: Does being a 'normal bloke' work?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
295. Pickard, Jim (3 May 2013). "Nigel Farage strikes right note with disgruntled working class". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
296. "The Jewish Chronicle interviews Nigel Farage of UKIP (Full)". YouTube. 30 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
297. Harley, Nicola (2 January 2016). "Nigel Farage fears he was victim of assassination attempt after motorway crash". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
298. Adam Sage (6 January 2016). "Farage death plot claims rubbished". The Times. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
299. McCann, Kate (8 January 2016). "Nigel Farage: I made a 'terrible, terrible mistake' over assassination attempt claims". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
300. Ward, Charles (3 November 2016). "Nigel Farage wins lifetime achievement award for Brexit role at Parliamentarian ceremony". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
301. "Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2016: the speeches". Coffee House. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
302. Mansfield, Katie (6 December 2016). "Nigel Farage nominated for Time Magazine's Person of the Year award". Daily Express. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
303. Chumney, richard (5 February 2020). "Nigel Farage, a fierce Brexit supporter, endorses 'Vexit' at Liberty University". Richmond News and Avance. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
304. "LU Convocation - Feb.5, 10:30 AM". YouTube. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
305. "Near U.K.'s Busiest Port, Brexit Hopes Are Layered in Asphalt". New York Times. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.

Notes

1. Served as Chairman of Independence/Democracy (2004–2009) and Europe of Freedom and Democracy (2009–2014)
2. Formerly the "Europe of Freedom and Democracy" group.
3. Farage left 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.

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

• Official website
• MEP website
• 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
• Appearances on C-SPAN