View source for Nigel Farage

{{update|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Nigel Farage
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}}
| image               = Official portrait of Nigel Farage MP crop 2.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2024
| office              = 2nd [[Leader of Reform UK]]{{efn|The party was renamed Reform UK in January 2021 and Farage led the renamed party until March of that same year.}}
| deputy              = {{plainlist|
* [[David Bull (television presenter)|David Bull]]
* [[Ben Habib]]
* Richard Tice
}}
| term_start          = 3 June 2024
| term_end            =
| predecessor         = [[Richard Tice]]
| term_start1         = 22 March 2019
| term_end1           = 6 March 2021
| predecessor1        = [[Catherine Blaiklock]]
| successor1          = Richard Tice
| office2             = [[President of Reform UK]]
| leader2             = Richard Tice
| term_start2         = 6 March 2021
| term_end2           = 3 June 2024
| predecessor2        = ''Office established''
| successor2          = ''Office abolished''
{{collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Leadership offices<br />{{nobold|1998–2019}}
|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder|embed = yes
| office3             = 5th [[Leader of the UK Independence Party]]
| deputy3             = Paul Nuttall
| 1blankname3         = Chairman
| 1namedata3          = Paul Oakden
| term_label3         = Acting
| term_start3         = 5 October 2016
| term_end3           = 28 November 2016
| predecessor3        = [[Diane James]]
| successor3          = [[Paul Nuttall]]
| deputy4             = {{plainlist|
* [[David Campbell Bannerman]]
* [[Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley|Christopher Monckton]]
* Paul Nuttall
}}
| 1blankname4         = Chairman
| 1namedata4          = [[Steve Crowther]]
| term_start4         = [[2010 UK Independence Party leadership election|5 November 2010]]
| term_end4           = 16 September 2016
| predecessor4        = [[Jeffrey Titford]] (Acting)
| successor4          = Diane James
| deputy5             = David Campbell Bannerman
| 1blankname5         = Chairman
| 1namedata5          = {{plainlist|
* [[John Whittaker (UKIP politician)|John Whittaker]]
* Paul Nuttall
}}
| term_start5         = [[2006 UK Independence Party leadership election|27 September 2006]]
| term_end5           = 27 November 2009
| predecessor5        = [[Roger Knapman]]
| successor5          = [[Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch|The Lord Pearson of Rannoch]]
| office6             = President of [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]]{{efn|name=EFDD|Known as [[Independence/Democracy]] from 2004 to 2009 and Europe of Freedom and Democracy from 2009 to 2014}}
| 1blankname6         = Served with
| 1namedata6          = {{plainlist|
* [[Hanne Dahl]]
* [[Francesco Speroni]]
* [[David Borrelli (politician)|David Borrelli]]
}}
| term_start6         = 20 July 2004
| term_end6           = 1 July 2019
| predecessor6        = [[Jens-Peter Bonde]]
| successor6          = ''Office abolished''
| office7             = [[Chairman of the UK Independence Party]]
| leader7             = [[Michael Holmes (politician)|Michael Holmes]]
| term_start7         = 1998
| term_end7           = 22 January 2000
| predecessor7        = [[Alan Sked]]
| successor7          = [[Mike Nattrass]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
| office8             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)|Clacton]]
| term_start8         = [[2024 United Kingdom general election|4 July 2024]]
| term_end8           =
| predecessor8        = [[Giles Watling]]
| successor8          =
| majority8           = 8,405 (18.3%)
| office9             = [[Member of the European Parliament]]<br />for [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]]
| term_start9         = [[1999 European Parliament election|10 June 1999]]
| term_end9           = [[Brexit|31 January 2020]]
| predecessor9        = ''Constituency established''
| successor9          = ''Constituency abolished''
| party               = [[Reform UK]] (2019–present)
| otherparty          = {{plainlist|
* [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (1978–1992)
* [[Anti-Federalist League]] (1992–1993)
* [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] (1993–2018)
* [[Independent politician|Independent]] (2018–2019)
}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date and age|1964|4|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Farnborough, London|Farnborough]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date          = 
| death_place         =
| nationality         = British 
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Gráinne Hayes|1988|1997|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Kirsten Mehr|1999||end=sep}}
}}
| partner             = [[Laure Ferrari]]
| children            = 4
| education           = [[Dulwich College]]
| occupation          = [[Politician]], [[Broadcaster]], [[Media personality]]
| website             = {{Official URL}}
| signature           =
}}

'''Nigel Paul Farage''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}} (born 3 April 1964) is a [[British people|British]] politician who has been the 2nd [[Leader of Reform UK]] from 2019 to 2021, and again since 2024. Farage has also been a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)|Clacton]] since [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]]. In the past, he was a [[Member of the European Parliament]] for the [[South East England]] [[region]] and he was one of the leaders of the [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]] group in the European Parliament until [[Brexit|Great Britain left the European Union]] in 2020. Since then, he has worked as a broadcaster.

Farage is known for being the former leader of the [[UK Independence Party]]. Farage has been an important figure in the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]].

==Political career==
Nigel Farage left the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in 1992 after the [[Treaty of Maastricht|Maastricht Treaty]] was signed by [[John Major]]'s Conservative government. He was first elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1999 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. In September 2006, he was elected to become the UKIP leader and was party leader during the 2009 European Parliament election where UKIP received the second highest number of votes after the Conservative Party.

In November 2009, Farage resigned as UKIP leader because he wanted to concentrate on being elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] at the [[United Kingdom general election, 2010|2010 General Election]]. At the general election, Farage failed to be elected and became the UKIP leader again in November 2010.<ref name="Sparrow">Andrew Sparrow [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/03/nigel-farage-stand-ukip-leadership "Nigel Farage to stand for Ukip leadership again"], ''The Guardian'', 3 September 2010</ref>

Farage stood for election as an MP for South Thanet in 2015. He lost to Craig Mackinlay. He resigned as leader. Four days later, Farage became the leader of the party again.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/11/nigel-farage-withdraws-resignation-as-ukip-leader|title=Nigel Farage withdraws resignation as Ukip leader|first=Rowena Mason Political|last=correspondent|date=11 May 2015|publisher=|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

Farage was instrumental in the Brexit campaign and was regarded by many as the main factor why the Leave campaign won and the UK voted to leave the European Union. On 25 August 2016, Farage was invited to a [[Donald Trump]] rally, in [[Jackson, Mississippi]], to give him his support in the run-up to the US election in November 2016. During the rally, he said the famous quote "If I was an American citizen, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. In fact, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me."

Farage is thought to be the first British politician to address a Republican presidential election rally. Speaking from the United States, Mr. Farage told The Daily Telegraph: “Brexit is just massive over here. I went to the [Republican Party] convention in Cleveland and I just could not believe that ordinary people are talking to me about Brexit. They see it as a victory of ordinary people against big business, big banks, and big politics. “The Republican activists and managers here are keen to hear the Brexit story, hear how we  managed to get 2.5 million people who don’t normally vote at all to go down to the polling station." Ever since the allegations about Russian interference in the [[2020 United States presidential election|US election]], Farage has been viewed by the FBI as a "person of interest" in order to discover wherever he also interfered with the election, like the Russian government.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/01/nigel-farage-is-person-of-interest-in-fbi-investigation-into-trump-and-russia | title=Nigel Farage is 'person of interest' in FBI investigation into Trump and Russia | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=2 June 2017 }}</ref>

On 4 December 2018, Nigel Farage left the UKIP Party as he believed its new leader Gerard Batten was becoming too obsessed with [[Tommy Robinson]] and [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/12/04/heavy-heart-leaving-ukip-not-brexit-party-nation-badly-needs/ | title=With a heavy heart, I am leaving Ukip. It is not the Brexit party our nation so badly needs | newspaper=The Telegraph | date=4 December 2018 | last1=Farage | first1=Nigel }}</ref>

[[File:President Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.jpg|thumb|right|Donald Trump and Nigel Farage in 2019]]
In October 2020, Farage praised Donald Trump and spoke in support of Trump at one of his campaign rallies.<ref>{{cite news |last= Massie |first= Graeme |date= 29 October 2020 |title= Nigel Farage praises Trump at rally after being introduced as one of Europe’s ‘most powerful men’ |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-farage-rally-arizona-election-brexit-b1405731.html |work= The Independent |access-date= 28 June 2024}}</ref> After Trump's criminal convictions in 2024, Farage stated that he supports Trump, "more than ever".<ref>{{cite news |date= 31 May 2024 |title= Reform UK's Nigel Farage says he supports Donald Trump 'more than ever' despite him being found guilty |url= https://news.sky.com/video/reform-uks-nigel-farage-says-he-supports-donald-trump-more-than-ever-despite-him-being-found-guilty-13146164 |work= Sky News |access-date= 28 June 2024}}</ref>

On 3 June 2024, Farage announced that he would be leader of Reform UK again, for the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2024-06-02|title=Nigel Farage to stand in election and become leader of Reform UK|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-69082668|access-date=2024-06-06|website=BBC News|language=en-gb}}</ref>

== Television ==
In 2023, Nigel Farage appeared on the 23rd season of [[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!|''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here'']].

==Personal life==
In his early twenties, Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He made a full recovery.<ref name="BBC p">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-20543513|title=Profile: Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP|first=Rosie|last=Goldsmith|work=BBC News |date=4 December 2012|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Simon Hattenstone |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/05/nigel-farage-ukip-interview |title=Nigel Farage, Ukip: 'Other party leaders live in a PC world.' &#124; Politics |work=The Guardian |date=5 June 2009 |accessdate=2012-04-06}}</ref>

Farage has been [[married]] twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988. They had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). The marriage ended in divorce in 1997. In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national.<ref name="BBC p"/> They have two children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/11/nukip11.xml|title=Making plans with Nigel|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=2007-03-11|location=London|first=Robert|last=Watts|accessdate=2010-05-20}}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Other websites==
*{{Official website|http://nigelfaragemep.co.uk/}}
*[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4525/NIGEL_FARAGE_home.html Nigel Farage] ''Profile at European Parliament website''
*[http://www.ukipmeps.org/ UKIP MEPs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421175908/http://www.ukipmeps.org/ |date=2012-04-21 }} ''Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament''
*[http://www.efdgroup.eu/ Europe of Freedom and Democracy] ''Political group in the European Parliament''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130709123259/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/f/20684/Nigel%20Paul+FARAGE.aspx ''Debrett's People of Today'']

{{commonscat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farage, Nigel}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Brexit]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:Leaders of Reform UK]]
[[Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People from the London Borough of Bromley]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kent]]
[[Category:Politicians from London]]
[[Category:UK Independence Party]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2024–present]]