Nigel Farage vows to quit politics for good saying UK vaccines drive is ‘proof positive’ Brexit has worked and he is amazed he has ‘stayed sane’ through 30-year campaign – but he will stay in the public eye to fight ‘woke agenda’
- Nigel Farage rebranded Brexit Party as anti-lockdown Reform UK in November
- The former-UKIP leader said his political career is ‘done’, declaring: ‘It’s over’
- He has vowed to quit in past and has returned to politics shortly afterwards
- But he has insisted that he will step back for good now ‘Brexit is done’
Nigel Farage today vowed he will not reverse his decision to quit politics for good, saying the UK vaccines drive is ‘proof positive’ that Brexit has worked.
The 56-year-old insisted he ‘wants his life back’ after nearly three decades of campaigning to cut ties with Brussels – insisting he is amazed he has ‘stayed sane’ amid the ‘onslaught’ from opponents.
In an article for MailOnline, Mr Farage said he has ‘achieved more than anybody believed possible’ and ‘I really have knocked on my last door’ – after previously reversing his decision to step back from the fray.
But the former MEP stressed that he is not leaving public life altogether, saying he was determined to stand up against the ‘woke indoctrination of our children’ and the ‘sinister rise of the Chinese Communist Party’.
The Brexiteer – who led Ukip several times before setting up the Brexit Party and recently rebranding it as Reform UK – has long been a divisive figure, including for his strong friendship with Donald Trump.
However, his potency as a campaigner and communicator is accepted on all sides of the political spectrum.
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’
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 has vowed to quit in the past before returning to politics shortly afterwards.
But he insisted that he will step back for good now Brexit is finished.
Mr Farage said he made his first political speech in 1993, joking that the resistance to his views often meant him feel like Millwall football team – whose supporters famously chant: ‘No-one likes us and we don’t care.’
‘Fighting for sovereignty and independence was deeply unfashionable throughout the early years of my campaigning… But I was obsessive in my belief that once the British public understood what the EU really was, we would win,’ he said.
Mr Farage credited Tony Blair’s decision to open the UK’s borders to workers from ‘poor former communist countries’ for ‘propelling the Ukip insurgency’.
He said he felt after the Brexit verdict in the 2016 referendum he ‘felt that I had attained my goals’.
However, the ‘anti-democratic behaviour of the political class and the total failure of Theresa May’s government to deliver Brexit forced me to return to active politics in late 2018’.
Mr Farage said the strong polling for the Brexit Party meant inevitable that Boris Johnson would become Conservative Party leader in July 2019, and ‘paved the way’ for the stunning Tory election victory the following December.
‘I’ve reflected recently that just five years ago, UKIP’s policies were about as popular in media circles and among the Westminster class as Millwall Football Club,’ he said.
‘Quite how I stayed sane throughout this onslaught is beyond me.’
Mr Farage said he was now confident there is ‘no going back’ on Brexit.
‘It might be imperfect, but it is done,’ he wrote.
‘Britain’s decision to unshackle itself from the European Medicines Agency has allowed this country to launch its brilliantly successful vaccine programme.
‘This on its own is proof positive that this country is better placed than it used to be.’
Mr Farage said he was leaving Reform UK in the ‘able’ hands of long-term ally Richard Tice.
‘This time, I really have knocked on my last door,’ he said.
‘This is not a retirement, though. Through media and social media outlets, I will fight against the ‘‘woke’’ indoctrination of our children and the sinister rise of the Chinese Communist Party.’
He also said he would be pursuing new projects on reforestation and ocean management.
Separately, Mr Farage told The Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast he would not be ‘playing golf four afternoons a week and have half a bitter afterwards’.
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: ‘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.’
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 would tackle several ‘powerful vested interests’.
These include ‘the House of Lords, the BBC, the way we vote, law and order, immigration’. The pair also claimed ‘badly run, wasteful quangos are in abundance’.
I want my life back – and this time I mean it, says NIGEL FARAGE
I made my first political speech in a village hall in Hampshire in 1993. A new party, UKIP, had recently been founded and I put myself forward to be its first nominated candidate in its first ever election campaign. When the Conservative MP for Eastleigh, Stephen Milligan, was found dead in strange circumstances soon after, a by-election was called. Little did I realise that my opposition to the ERM, to the Maastricht Treaty, and to Britain’s membership of the European Union would take over the next three decades of my life.
Fighting for sovereignty and independence was deeply unfashionable throughout the early years of my campaigning. I often joked that I might become the patron saint of lost causes. But I was obsessive in my belief that once the British public understood what the EU really was, we would win.
Tony Blair’s decision at the turn of this century to open Britain’s borders to poor former communist countries propelled the UKIP insurgency and, later, posed a serious threat to David Cameron’s government. There would have been no Brexit referendum without UKIP and when the results came in after the vote on 23 June 2016, I was not surprised to see that the highest Leave votes were in areas where we had achieved most success in local elections.
Mr Farage led Ukip several times before setting up the Brexit Party and recently rebranding it as Reform UK
In the wake of that referendum, I felt that I had attained my goals. I resigned as UKIP leader and said ‘I want my life back’. The anti-democratic behaviour of the political class and the total failure of Theresa May’s government to deliver Brexit forced me to return to active politics in late 2018. Thank goodness I did. I set up the Brexit Party and we secured a decisive victory in the European elections of 2019, helping to ensure that Britain really would leave the EU.
With the Brexit Party leading the national opinion polls it was inevitable that Boris Johnson would become Conservative Party leader in July 2019 and that the ‘Get Brexit Done’ message would deliver him the general election a few months later. Indeed, the Brexit Party paved the way for this rebel victory. Millions of Labour supporters had voted for UKIP and the Brexit Party before turning to the Conservatives. We laid the foundations for Johnson’s 80-seat majority. Voters knew voting for a pro-Brexit party was preferable to Jeremy Corbyn and a second referendum.
I’ve reflected recently that just five years ago, UKIP’s policies were about as popular in media circles and among the Westminster class as Millwall Football Club. Sensible ideas like supporting border controls and cutting foreign aid led to BBC and Sky News presenters comparing our strategy to 1930s fascism. Quite how I stayed sane throughout this onslaught is beyond me.
Now Brexit has happened and there is no going back. It might be imperfect, but it is done. Britain’s decision to unshackle itself from the European Medicines Agency has allowed this country to launch its brilliantly successful vaccine programme. This on its own is proof positive that this country is better placed than it used to be.
Rebranding the Brexit Party as Reform UK was the logical next step. After all, we had campaigned under the slogan of Change Politics for Good, and there is so much that needs to be modernised. House of Lords reform, electoral reform and postal voting are just three areas requiring urgent attention. The BBC, the bloated quangos and our fiendishly complicated tax system must also be confronted.
I support these aims, but my primary goal in leaving business to enter politics has been realised. For this reason, I am stepping down as leader of Reform UK. My able successor, Richard Tice, faces an enormous challenge. To build a national party and to fight an establishment which is opposed to proper change is a big task and I wish him well.
I have made this decision because, again, I want my life back. This time, I really have knocked on my last door. It has been a long, hard road, but I’ve accomplished more than anybody believed possible. This is not a retirement, though. Through media and social media outlets, I will fight against the ‘woke’ indoctrination of our children and the sinister rise of the Chinese Communist Party. Through new projects, I will also give voice to environmental campaigns for reforestation and for better management of our oceans. That village hall in 1993 really does seem a lifetime ago.
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