Nigel Farage

"Farage" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Farage (surname).

Nigel Farage
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Leader of Reform UK
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 June 2024
ChairmanRichard Tice
Zia Yusuf
DeputyDavid Bull and Ben Habib
Richard Tice
Preceded byRichard Tice
Previous party positions
1998–2024
Honorary President of Reform UK
In role
6 March 2021 – 3 June 2024
LeaderRichard Tice
Preceded byRole established
Succeeded byRole abolished
Leader of The Brexit Party[a]
In role
22 March 2019 – 6 March 2021
Preceded byCatherine Blaiklock
Succeeded byRichard Tice
Leader of the UK Independence Party
Acting
5 October 2016 – 28 November 2016
ChairmanPaul Oakden
Preceded byDiane James
Succeeded byPaul Nuttall
In office
5 November 2010 – 16 September 2016
DeputyDavid Campbell Bannerman
Christopher Monckton
Paul Nuttall
ChairmanSteve Crowther
Preceded byJeffrey Titford (Acting)
Succeeded byDiane James
In office
27 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
DeputyDavid Campbell Bannerman
ChairmanJohn Whittaker
Paul Nuttall
Preceded byRoger Knapman
Succeeded byThe Lord Pearson of Rannoch
President of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy[b]
In office
20 July 2004 – 1 July 2019
Served withHanne Dahl
Francesco Speroni
David Borrelli
Preceded byJens-Peter Bonde
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Chairman of the UK Independence Party
In office
1998 – 22 January 2000
LeaderMichael Holmes
Preceded byAlan Sked
Succeeded byMike Nattrass
Member of Parliament
for Clacton
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byGiles Watling
Majority8,405 (18.3%)
Member of the European Parliament
for South East England
In office
10 June 1999 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Nigel Paul Farage

(1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 60)
Farnborough, Kent, England
Political partyReform UK (after 2019)
Other political
affiliations
Spouses
  • Gráinne Hayes
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1988; div. 1997)​
  • Kirsten Mehr
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1999, separated)​
Domestic partnerLaure Ferrari
Children4
EducationDulwich College
Occupation
  • Politician
  • broadcaster
  • media personality
Signature
Websitenfarage.com Edit this at Wikidata
Nigel Farage's voice
Farage speaks in a European Parliament debate on the election of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission
Recorded 16 July 2019
This article is part of
a series about
Nigel Farage
Brexit referendum
Media

Nigel Paul Farage (/ˈfærɑːʒ/ ⓘ FARR-ahzh; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 2024, having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021.[c] He was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.

A prominent Eurosceptic since the early 1990s, Farage was first elected to the European Parliament (EP) in 1999. In 2004 he became the president of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy.[b] Farage was elected UKIP's leader in 2006 and led the party at the 2009 European Parliament election, when it won the second-most votes in the UK. He stood unsuccessfully in Buckingham at the 2010 general election before he returned as UKIP's leader that same year. At the 2014 European Parliament election UKIP won the most seats in the UK, pressuring David Cameron to call the 2016 EU membership referendum.[2][3][4] At the 2015 general election Farage was an unsuccessful candidate in South Thanet.

After the successful referendum Farage resigned as UKIP's leader. In 2018 he co-founded the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021), which drew support from those frustrated with the delayed implementation of Brexit by Theresa May's government, and won the most votes at the 2019 European Parliament election, becoming the largest single party in the parliament;[5][6] May announced her resignation days later, and was succeeded by Boris Johnson, whose government delivered Brexit in 2020; Farage has criticised the delivery of Brexit on several occasions. At the 2024 general election Farage again became Reform UK's leader, and won in Clacton.

Farage is known for his distinctive character and style, including his flamboyant personality,[7][8] fashion,[9][10][11][12] and social media presence,[13][14][15][16] as well as his form of British right-wing populism.[17] He was ranked second in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in 2013, behind Cameron, and was also named "Briton of the Year" by The Times in 2014.[18][19] He was ranked first on the New Statesman's Right Power List in 2023, described as "the most influential person on the British right".[20]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Osborn-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rowena-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Volkery, Carsten-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "European elections 2019: Brexit Party dominates as Tories and Labour suffer". BBC News. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. ^ "European Elections: What they tell us about support for Brexit". BBC News. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  7. ^ Cohen, Nick (11 May 2019). "Farage, Rees-Mogg, Claire Fox... Britain is seduced by politicians who are 'characters'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  8. ^ Williams, Zoe (13 November 2023). "Nigel Farage is deeply divisive. Why is his reputation being fun-washed on I'm a Celebrity?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  9. ^ Holt, Bethan (18 June 2024). "How Nigel Farage entered a fashion war against 'Britain's most stylish politician'". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ^ Picardie, Justine (28 April 2015). "Decoding Nigel's coat – what the Ukip leader's clothing tells us". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  11. ^ Fury, Alexander (12 October 2014). "Nigel Farage undressed: The Ukip leader's fuddy-duddy look is a calculated harking-back to post-war patriotism". Independent. London. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  12. ^ "The story of Nigel Farage's coat". BBC News. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  13. ^ Johnston, John (14 February 2024). "British politicians have ditched TikTok. Nigel Farage is moving in". Politico. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  14. ^ Tsjeng, Zing (29 May 2024). "Reform UK is winning the TikTok war". i. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  15. ^ Johnston, John (15 February 2024). "Farage steals a TikTok march". Politico. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  16. ^ Quinn, Ben; Mason, Rowena (20 June 2024). "Hip-hop mimes and breast jokes win Farage a valuable gen Z following". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  17. ^ D'Arcy, Mark (29 November 2019). "Nigel Farage: The story of 'Mr Brexit'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "Man of the Moment". The Times. London. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.(subscription required)
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference New Statesman-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).