Nigel Farage: From UKIP maverick to self-proclaimed 'people's army' leader
Nigel Farage has tried to become an MP seven times - but hopes this time will be different as he vows to take votes from both Labour and the Tories.
Wednesday 12 June 2024 14:39, UK
Nigel Farage is the new leader of the Reform UK party, which has announced he will stand to be an MP in the general election.
Despite previously ruling out a return to frontline politics, Mr Farage delivered an "emergency" news conference where he announced he would stand as the Reform candidate in the constituency of Clacton in Essex.
He said he decided to run because he felt he was letting voters down by not representing them at the ballot box.
"I can't turn my back on the people's army," he said.
"I can't turn my back on those millions of people who followed me, believed in me despite the horrendous things that were being said about me."
In a speech in southeast London, he pledged to lead a "political revolt" in the UK - "a turning of our backs on the political status quo".
Here, Sky News takes a look at the life and times of Mr Farage.
General election latest: Farage announces election U-turn
Early life
Mr Farage was born on 3 April 1964 in Farnborough, Kent, into a prosperous family with a father who was a stockbroker in the City of London.
Guy Oscar Justus Farage, his father, was an alcoholic who walked out on the family when Mr Farage was five.
Mr Farage attended Dulwich College, a private school in south London. When he finished school at the age of 18, he decided not to go on to university and instead went to work in the City of London as a commodities trader.
Thorn in the side
Mr Farage emerged as an anti-European voice in British politics over a number of decades and played an influential role in the UK's vote for Brexit.
He was initially a member of the Conservative Party, but did not agree with the direction the party was taking under John Major, who signed the Maastricht Treaty that advocated for an "ever-closer union" with European member states.
His growing disillusionment with the Tories prompted him to join UKIP as one of its founding members. He has been a thorn in the side of the Conservatives ever since.
In 2006, he was elected leader of UKIP and sat as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), representing South East England from 1999 to 2020, where he was a vocal critic of the EU and led the charge for Brexit.
In April 2019, amid significant delays to Brexit legislation in parliament, Mr Farage launched the Brexit Party in a bid to hold the Conservatives' feet to the fire over their plan to leave the EU.
In the European elections later that year, the party emerged as the winner, picking up 29 seats to just four for the Tories.
Ahead of the general election in December, and despite weeks of campaigning, the Brexit Party leader announced that he would stand down his candidates in more than 300 seats that were held by the Tories, explaining that he did not want to split the Leave vote and risk a second referendum with the accompanying Liberal Democrat surge.
The tactical retreat helped Boris Johnson achieve his landslide victory in 2019, even if it meant the Brexit Party did not pick up a single seat.
'We are in decline'
With Brexit achieved, the Brexit Party was renamed Reform UK, and Mr Farage was appointed leader, before resigning to make way for Richard Tice.
On Monday, Mr Tice confirmed he was standing aside as leader to make way for Mr Farage, who said he would stay in his new post for the next five years.
It means Mr Farage will be able to compete in media debates involving Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, both of whom he has vowed to take votes from in this election.
Failed MP bids
Mr Farage is by no means a stranger to running for parliament.
He has stood to be an MP seven times - including in two by-elections and five general elections, most recently for UKIP in the constituency of Thanet in 2015.
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Outlining his fresh bid to be the new MP for Clacton, Mr Farage said he did not see politics as an extension of the "Oxford union" and that running the country was not a "game".
"Nothing in this country works any more," he said. "The health service doesn't work, the roads don't work, none of our public services are up to scratch.
"We are in decline."
Read more:
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Life outside parliament
As well as politics, Mr Farage has indulged in a number of other roles, including as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.
He has also been a presenter on GB News, a role he recently left to focus on the election.
Mr Farage has also been building up a career in the US, helping Donald Trump's campaign in 2016 and speaking at his rallies.
On Monday, he stuck by the former US president, despite a New York jury finding him guilty of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
Mr Farage branded the hush money trial a "kangaroo court" and said he was confident Trump would win the presidential election.
On Wednesday a woman was charged with assault by beating and criminal damage after a milkshake was thrown at Mr Farage following his campaign launch in Clacton.
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The other candidates standing in Clacton are:
• Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrats
• Natasha Osben, Green Party
• Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party
• Giles Watling, Conservatives