Nigel Farage set to resign from Reform Party leadership
Nigel Farage #NigelFarage
Nigel Farage has quit politics now Brexit is done to ‘do battle’ on the ‘woke agenda’ and the influence of China in British politics, the former-UKIP leader has revealed.
Mr Farage, 56, who rebranded the Brexit Party as anti-lockdown party Reform UK in November, said his political career is ‘done’, declaring: ‘It’s over.’
The Brexiteer – who has led UKIP several times – has stoked wide-spread criticism during his time in the political mainstream, most recently for strong support of former-US President Donald Trump.
Mr Farage has vowed to quit in the past before returning to politics shortly afterwards.
But he has insisted that he will step back for good now ‘Brexit is done’.
Nigel Farage was a founding member of UKIP in 1993 and acted as its leader between 2006 and 2009.
He has served as an MEP from 1999 to 2020, when the UK left the EU.
In 2009 he quit to focus on his bid to become an MP.
He lost the election, but stood to be UKIP’s leader again in 2010 and won.
Then, in 2015, Mr Farage resigned as leader of UKIP after he failed to be elected as an MP.
But days later it was revealed that he would remain UKIP leader with party chairman Steve Crowther saying members ‘unanimously’ rejected his letter of resignation.
He quit as UKIP leader in 2016 declaring he had ‘done my bit’ by winning the EU referendum.
He said at the time: ‘My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union.
‘That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I’ve done my bit, that I couldn’t possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.’
Mr Farage added: ‘During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I’m saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.’
At this point he vowed the decision was final and said: ‘I won’t be changing my mind again, I can promise you.’
He resigned his UKIP membership in 2018 – after 25 years as a member – over disagreements with UKIP leader Gerard Batten’s appointment of Tommy Robinson as an advisor.
The Brexit Party was approved by the Electoral Commission in 2019. Mr Farage then revealed he would stand as a candidate for The Brexit Party in any potential future European Parliament elections.
In November last year, it was revealed that the Brexit Party would be rebranded into anti-lockdown party Reform UK.
Announcing the party’s new aims, Mr Farage and Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman, said it will tackle several ‘powerful vested interests’.
These include ‘the House of Lords, the BBC, the way we vote, law and order, immigration’. The pair also claim ‘badly run, wasteful quangos are in abundance’.
But the party – which hopes to capitalise on anti-lockdown sentiment – believes the most pertinent issue is ‘the Government’s woeful response to coronavirus’.
Mr Farage said his quitting politics does not mean he will ‘play golf four afternoons a week and have half a bitter afterwards’.
Instead he hopes to tackle two ‘very big’ problems, namely the influence of China in British politics and the the ‘woke agenda’.
He told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Now’s the moment for me to say I’ve knocked on my last door. I’m going to step down as the leader of Reform UK.’
He added: ‘I’m not packing up. I’m not off to play golf four afternoons a week and have half a bitter afterwards.
‘That’s not happening.’
Instead he said he wants to tackle to main points: ‘One is the extent to which the Chinese Communist Party is taking over our lives and certainly has undue influence in our country.
Video: Boris.mp4 (The Independent)
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‘And the other thing [is] the “woke agenda” – literally the indoctrination of our children from primary school all the way through university with now a completely different interpretation of history.
‘I see our communities being divided more than ever by this agenda. And I’m very worried about it.’
It is not the first time Mr Farage vowed he would leave politics, but he insisted this time the move is for good.
He said: ‘There is no going back – Brexit is done. That won’t be reversed.
‘I know I’ve come back once or twice when people thought I’d gone, but this is it. It’s done. It’s over.’
In 2015, Mr Farage resigned as leader of UKIP after he failed to be elected as an MP.
But days later it was revealed that he would remain UKIP leader with party chairman Steve Crowther saying members ‘unanimously’ rejected his letter of resignation.
He quit as UKIP leader in 2016 declaring he had ‘done my bit’ by winning the EU referendum.
He said at the time: ‘My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union.
‘That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I’ve done my bit, that I couldn’t possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.’
Mr Farage added: ‘During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I’m saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.’
At this point he vowed the decision was final and said: ‘I won’t be changing my mind again, I can promise you.’
He then resigned his UKIP membership in 2018 – after 25 years as a member – over disagreements with UKIP leader Gerard Batten’s appointment of Tommy Robinson as an advisor.
The Brexit Party was approved by the Electoral Commission in 2019. Mr Farage then revealed he would stand as a candidate for The Brexit Party in any potential future European Parliament elections.
In November last year, it was revealed that the Brexit Party would be rebranded into anti-lockdown party Reform UK.
Announcing the party’s new aims, Mr Farage and Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman, said it will tackle several ‘powerful vested interests’.
These include ‘the House of Lords, the BBC, the way we vote, law and order, immigration’. The pair also claim ‘badly run, wasteful quangos are in abundance’.
But the party – which hopes to capitalise on anti-lockdown sentiment – believes the most pertinent issue is ‘the Government’s woeful response to coronavirus’.
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