Nigel Farage, who is set to become a member of the British House of Commons on Thursday for the eighth time, has risen from a radical Eurosceptic firebrand to a high-profile leader who wants to “reshape” British politics on the right.
The 60-year-old former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) was a driving force behind the 2016 Brexit vote before building a career as a presenter for the far-right TV station GB News.
A staunch supporter of Donald Trump and nicknamed “Mr Brexit” by the former US president, Farage is a divisive figure, loved and hated in equal measure by his supporters and opponents.
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Regarded as one of Britain’s most effective communicators and campaigners, his decision to stand in the eurosceptic constituency of Clacton in southeast England is particularly risky for the ruling Conservative party.
May’s candidacy has sparked a surge in support for her far-right party, Reform UK, which is campaigning on a pro-Brexit, anti-immigration and anti-net zero platform and threatens to draw support from the right away from the Conservatives.
This could benefit the main opposition Labour Party, which is polling to a landslide victory, and put Farage in a strong position as remaining Conservative members battle it out over the party’s future direction.
Farage said his long-term goal was to “take over” the Conservative party, likening his attempt to a similar effort against Canada’s Conservative party in the 1990s.
“I want to reshape the centre-right,” he told The Sunday Times, adding that he had “no confidence” in the Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010.
But first he must finally become a member of Parliament after seven failed attempts.
“Everyman”
Nigel Paul Farage, a beer-loving divorced man and father of four who on paper doesn’t seem like a friend of the common man, appears to embody many of the things he rails against.
The son of a stockbroker and a privately educated former commodities trader, he served as a member of the European Parliament in Brussels for two decades but is a fierce critic of the European Union which pays his salary and regularly rails against both “career politicians” and the “global elite”.
His supporters praise him as a straight-talking, beer-swilling “everyday guy”, but his opponents accuse him of being a hypocrite who panders to racists and far-right ideologists.
Reform parties have ruled out a number of potential candidates this year for offensive comments, according to watchdog groups, while Farage was criticised by opposition parties for saying during the election campaign that the West had provoked Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Farage has an uncanny ability to capture media attention by tapping into right-wing voter discontent with the handling of Brexit.
In 1985 he had a cancerous testicle removed, and in 1987 he was hit by a car after a night out, suffering serious injuries to his head and legs.
After recovering, he married a nurse and had two sons.
profile
After their divorce in 1997, Mr Farage remarried German Kirsten Mair and they have two daughters. They separated in 2017.
On election day in May 2010, the light aircraft he was travelling in crashed after a campaign poster got caught in the propeller.
He escaped relatively unscathed, with only broken bones and a punctured lung.
Farage’s political rise began in 1993, when Britain joined the process of deepening European integration under Conservative Prime Minister John Major.
He left the Conservative Party in disgust, co-founded the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) and was elected to the European Parliament six years later, aged 35.
Mr Farage twice led UKIP to unprecedented success in the 2014 European elections as euroscepticism, once a minority interest within the Conservative party, became more mainstream.
The 2014 election result put pressure on then Prime Minister David Cameron to call a referendum on EU membership, ultimately leading to his resignation.
Mr Farage was excluded from the official “Leave” campaign over concerns his brand was too divisive.
But he has remained highly visible, doggedly campaigning on immigration and sparking accusations of racism with his “breaking point” refugee posters.
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In the afterglow of his victory, Farage claimed his mission was accomplished and resigned as UKIP leader.
But he quickly returned to the frontline, founding the Brexit Party in response to the political turmoil surrounding Britain’s departure from the EU and helping to reshape it as the Reform Party after Britain’s departure in 2020.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed (AFP))
Location: London, United Kingdom (UK)
First revealed: 03 July 2024 20:23 IST
