“I’m a hero to some folks, and an absolute villain to hundreds of thousands,” Nigel Farage stated on his first day within the I am A Superstar camp. “Within the jungle, you are going to discover the true me.”
The 59-year-old’s inclusion appears to be a part of a sample of rehabilitating divisive politicians; disgraced former well being secretary Matt Hancock joined final 12 months’s sequence after he was forced to resign from his authorities place for breaking Covid-19 restrictions whereas conducting an affair.
Hero or villain, there isn’t any doubt that Farage’s three many years in British politics have been outlined by controversy. Dubbed “the person who broke Britain” for his function within the 2016 Brexit referendum, and seen by many as a far-right bigot, he’s no stranger to scandal.
“Shouting Hitler Youth songs” as a baby
BBC Archives
Even from an early age, Farage was no stranger to controversy.
Whereas at south London personal college Dulwich faculty, Farage was lively within the Conservative Get together, after being impressed by a faculty go to by Tory MP Keith Joseph.
Famously decried by David Cameron as a bunch of ‘fruitcakes, loonies, and closet racists’, UKIP shortly grew to become scandal-ridden
However in 1981, an English instructor wrote to the headteacher asking him to reconsider his decision, citing his fascist views. One other instructor stated that on a Mixed Cadet Drive (CCF) camp organised by the faculty, Farage and others “marched by way of a quiet Sussex village very late at night time shouting Hitler Youth songs”.
Farage later said: “Any accusation [that] I used to be ever concerned in far-right politics is totally unfaithful.”
Round a 3rd of sixth-form college students at Dulwich went on to check at Oxbridge. Farage was not one them; after getting mediocre A-level outcomes, he rejected college altogether, and went to work within the Metropolis in an effort to “make some huge cash”, in response to his biography.
“The person who broke Britain” – UKIP and Brexit
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Farage was a founder member of the UK Independence Get together (UKIP) in 1993, after years of being a outstanding Eurosceptic.
In 1994, he requested Enoch Powell, whom he as soon as described as certainly one of his idols, to again UKIP however was turned down.
He was elected chief of the occasion in 2006, with 45 per cent of the vote.
Famously decried by David Cameron as a bunch of “fruitcakes, loonies, and closet racists”, UKIP shortly grew to become scandal-ridden, with one MEP jailed for fraud, and others embroiled in racism scandals.
Nonetheless, Farage managed to take the occasion from the political fringe to the mainstream, by pulling collectively a coalition of indignant voters from throughout regular occasion strains. UKIP noticed vital breakthroughs on the 2013 native elections, 2014 European Parliamentary elections, and 2015 basic election.
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Sean Gallup / Getty Pictures
Within the course of, he cornered then prime minister Cameron into promising the 2016 Brexit referendum. His give attention to immigration was closely criticised by opponents (extra on this later), particularly a campaign poster exhibiting a line of asylum seekers with the phrases “Breaking Level” on it.
Mere hours after the UK voted to depart the EU, Farage had already admitted that one of many Depart marketing campaign’s key pledges – £350 million further for the NHS per week, famously plastered on the Brexit tour bus – was a “mistake”.
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Jack Taylor / Getty Pictures
Farage then stepped down as UKIP chief, later organising the Brexit Get together. 4 months later, it topped the polls within the 2019 European Parliamentary elections.
UKIP subsequently noticed its vote share and membership closely decline, dropping virtually all its elected representatives. It then drifted even additional in direction of a far-right, anti-Islam message.
An entire checklist of his allegedly racist remarks
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Philip Toscano / PA Wire
His declare that some Muslim immigrants are “coming right here to take us over”
When he agreed with the “fundamental precept” of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech
In 2014, he stated that the “fundamental precept” of Enoch Powell’s notorious anti-immigration Rivers of Blood speech was correct.
Saying he felt “uncomfortable” listening to international languages on the Tube
In a 2014 interview on LBC, Farage stated he felt “uncomfortable” when he heard folks talking in different languages on London transport.
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Geoff Caddick / AFP / Getty
When LBC radio presenter James O’Brien adopted that by asking why he objects to Romanian migrants however not Germans – like his spouse – Farage retorted: “You recognize the distinction.”
Farage additionally urged he could be involved dwelling subsequent to a home of Romanians.
When he blamed immigrants for getting caught in visitors
That very same 12 months, Farage additionally blamed immigrants when he was greater than two hours late for an occasion, claiming they have been inflicting visitors on the M4.
“That has nothing to do with professionalism,” he stated of his lateness. “What’s does should do with is a rustic through which the inhabitants goes by way of the roof, mainly due to open-door immigration, and the very fact the M4 is just not as navigable because it was.”
Defending the phrase “ch***y” to explain a Chinese language particular person
Two months later, he defended a UKIP candidate for utilizing the phrase “ch**ky” to explain a Chinese language particular person.
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Ian Forsyth / Getty Pictures
“Should you and your mates have been going out for a Chinese language, what do you say you’re going for?” he requested.
Allegations of antisemitism
In 2017, Farage got here beneath fireplace for antisemitism after an LBC interview through which he described the so-called US “Jewish foyer” as a priority of his.
His notorious anti-immigration poster
Farage got here beneath fireplace for his 2016 anti-immigration poster which depicted a line of refugees, the vast majority of whom have been non-white and male, beneath the slogan “breaking level”.
It was branded “vile” by chancellor of the time George Osbourne, who stated it “echoed” Nazi propaganda.
Boris Johnson, who led the official Vote Depart marketing campaign, stated the poster was “not our marketing campaign” and “not my politics”.
‘Possibly it’s as a result of I’ve obtained so many ladies pregnant over time that I’ve a distinct view’
Nigel Farage on maternity depart
Calling for a ban on folks with HIV immigrating to the UK
Farage additionally known as for a ban on people with HIV migrating to the UK. When requested who must be allowed to return to the UK, he stated: “Individuals who do not need HIV, to be frank. That’s a superb begin. And folks with a ability.”
In 2015, he additionally stated that NHS cash spent on current immigrants with HIV could be higher positioned treating other taxpayers with severe situations.
The time his UKIP marketing campaign airplane crashed on election day
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Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Pictures
One among Farage’s most notorious moments got here on election day in 2010, when his two-seater UKIP marketing campaign airplane crashed after his “Vote UKIP” banner grew to become entangled, inflicting the plane to nosedive.
Earlier than the airplane took off, Farage allegedly joked: “I simply hope the airplane doesn’t blow up and crash.”
Farage was seen strolling out of the plane coated in blood earlier than being taken to Horton hospital in Banbury.
He later admitted he thought he was going to die within the crash, from which he emerged with fractured neck vertebrae, and damaged ribs.
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Ben Pruchnie / Getty Pictures
On ladies and work, Farage stated in 2014: “If a lady with a consumer base has a baby and takes two or three years off work, she is price far much less to the employer when she comes again than when she goes away as a result of her consumer base can’t be caught rigidly to her.”
He additionally added: “Possibly it’s as a result of I’ve obtained so many ladies pregnant over time that I’ve a distinct view [of maternity leave].”
“If all of us have been caught out on what we’ve stated on an evening out after a drink, none of us could be right here,” he added.
“Good” – his admiration for Vladimir Putin
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Christopher Furlong / Getty Pictures
On his political idols, Farage said in 2014: “As an operator, however not as a human being, I’d say Putin. The way in which he performed the entire Syria factor. Good.”
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Farage’s views on the Russian dictator appear to have have mellowed barely.
Farage praised Trump for ‘dominating’ Hillary Clinton like a ‘silverback gorilla’ in an election debate
“Vladimir Putin is a nationalist Russian. He needs to get again – at the very least I believed he wished to get again – the Russian-speaking areas [of Ukraine] into his nation,” he stated.
“These provinces in Ukraine, nicely, they’re Russian-speaking… I all the time thought we have been coping with somebody very logical, however now I don’t suppose he’s.”
He stated that the invasion was “abhorrent” but additionally “predictable”, and blamed Putin’s actions on the EU and Nato upsetting him.
“I’d vote for him” – his assist for Donald Trump
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GB Information
Farage has been persistently vocal about his support for former US president Donald Trump, and was even the primary British politician to satisfy him after his 2016 victory.
Within the run-up to the US presidential elections of 2016, Farage stated that if he might, he would vote for Donald Trump.
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Ian West / PA Wire
In July 2023, Farage obtained internal documents from private bank Coutts, owned by NatWest, that confirmed its reputational threat committee had accused him of “pandering to racists” and being a “disingenuous grifter”. It determined that his politics have been “at odds with our place as an inclusive organisation” and notified him of the intention to shut his accounts.
NatWest chief Dame Alison Rose admitted she had misled a BBC reporter into believing that Coutts took the choice solely for industrial causes, resulting in an inaccurate article.
The scandal finally led to the resignation of Dame Alison in July and the departure of Peter Flavel, the chief govt of Coutts, quickly after.
An unbiased evaluate into the choice to shut Farage’s accounts discovered that though there have been “severe failings” in NatWest’s therapy of the previous politician, the choice was lawful. Farage responded by calling the report a “whitewash”.