Once Ridiculed, Farage Is Closing In On His Quest to Rule the UK

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The night the UK joined the ERM, Farage remembers “ranting about it in the bar” after work. He became increasingly political when the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1991 by the European Economic Community, paving the way for further integration and the adoption of the euro. 

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After seeing the then-governing Conservatives under John Major back the treaty, Farage said he thought “they’re a waste of time,” and joined UKIP as a founder member. 

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Back then it was a hobby. Now, it’s a business. 

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Farage sleeps only around five hours per night, a habit he’s had since his teenage years, leaving more time for work — and the money is pouring in. 

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The Guardian reported that Christopher Harborne, a British crypto investor based in Thailand, gave Farage £5 million privately on top of the record donations he’s made to the party.

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Farage has tried to brush off allegations that this should have been reported as a political donation, saying that “I can’t be bullied, I can’t be bribed. I know my own mind.” Billionaire Elon Musk “tried to push me into positions” when the X owner was mooting a UK political donation, Farage said, but he insisted that he stood his ground. 

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While most politicians of Farage’s stature might feel pressure to consolidate their disparate personas into one backed by a coherent policy platform, the Reform leader may be an exception, according to Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester. The election results show that he’s still largely immune to scrutiny of donations and scandals involving offensive remarks by party officials, Ford said.

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“If people think the existing political establishment is crooked and corrupt, then pointing at somebody who’s an insurgent and saying he’s crooked and corrupt too, it doesn’t really work,” Ford said.

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Since successfully campaigning to pull the UK out of the EU in the 2016 referendum, reducing immigration has remained a Farage priority. That’s the tenet on which he co-founded the Brexit Party in 2018, renamed Reform UK just over two years later, after he decided to quit UKIP. 

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The local election results show that stance continues to resonate with voters. Leave-backing areas were significantly more likely to vote Reform than those who tended toward Remain. 

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But success has thrown up new hurdles for Farage, who is more interested in broad-brush politicking than the intricacies of policy, according to people close to him. Previously criticized for being a one-man-band, he’s appointed party spokespeople for home affairs, education, the Treasury and business and energy. 

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One person who previously worked with Farage said the Reform leader had deliberately run the party on a blank-book basis, as he was happy for it to mean different things to different people if it meant scooping up more votes. 

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Still, seeing Reform’s policies as full of holes and hence an electoral liability is “a dangerous complacency,” said Manchester’s Ford.

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“If people think government doesn’t work, do they care?” he said.

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There have been some very public fallouts, hinting at internal party tensions. Farage is no longer on speaking terms with Rupert Lowe, the party’s former MP who was ejected following allegations of bullying which he denied. Not long before, Ben Habib, Reform’s deputy leader, had left the party following an acrimonious split in which he accused Farage of failing to have a political philosophy.