Faragism

Nigel Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and the Leader of Reform UK since 2024, having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021 when it was called the Brexit Party. He also was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009, and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020. Farage has criticised the delivery of Brexit on several occasions.

A prominent Eurosceptic since the early 1990s, Farage's right-wing and anti-immigration domestic views have attracted significant media attention throughout his political career. He is known for his distinctive character and style, including his flamboyant personality, fashion, and social media presence, as well as his form of British right-wing populism. In foreign policy, Farage is an outspoken supporter of US President Donald Trump, whom he has been compared to on several occasions. He has spoken more favourably of Vladimir Putin amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine than most political leaders.

Economy

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one-size-fits-all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast.

Farage strongly opposes the use of bailouts and says that "buying your own debt with taxpayers' money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country ... it will be the European Central Bank itself".

On the issue of welfare, Farage said in 2014 he wanted migrants to live in the UK for five years before being able to claim benefits, and for them to be ineligible for tax credits. In 2015 he suggested that tax avoidance was caused by "punitive tax rates".

Electoral reform

During the campaigning before the UK voting system referendum of May 2011, which offered the two options of a continuation of first-past-the-post voting or an alternative vote system, Farage declared himself in favour of the latter, saying that a continuation of first-past-the-post would be a "nightmare" for UKIP, although he also said that AV would make little difference to UKIP's fortunes. The party's stance was decided by its central policy-making committee, although Farage expressed a preference for the AV+ system as it "would retain the constituency link and then also the second ballot ensured there were no wasted votes". After the 2015 general election, in which UKIP took a much lower proportion of seats than votes, Farage called the first-past-the-post voting system (FPTP) "totally bankrupt". He had said in 2011: "I completely lost faith in PTP in 2005 when Blair was returned with a 60 seat majority on 36 per cent of the vote, or 22 per cent if you factor in low turnout."

Environment

Farage has been sceptical regarding the scientific consensus on climate change and has opposed measures designed to tackle global warming. In 2013, Farage criticised David Cameron's policy on wind turbines, describing it as covering "Britain in ugly disgusting ghastly windmills". An official energy policy document produced by UKIP while Farage was leader of the party stated that "UKIP strongly supports a clean environment and clean air", stressing that "coal-fired power stations must use clean technology to remove sulphur and nitrogen oxides, particulates and other pollutants". In a speech made to the European parliament on 11 September 2013, Farage cited a news story that the Arctic Sea ice cap had apparently grown from 2012 to 2013, saying that this was evidence of decades "of Euro-federalism combined with an increasing Green obsession", despite this being a minor milestone in a larger trend of sea ice decline.

Drugs and healthcare

Drugs

Farage has in the past taken an anti-prohibitionist position on recreational drugs. In an April 2014 phone-in interview hosted by ''The Daily Telegraph'' he argued that the war on drugs had been lost "many, many years ago", stating that "I hate drugs, I've never taken them myself, I hope I never do, but I just have a feeling that the criminalisation of all these drugs is actually not really helping British society." He argued in favour of a Royal Commission on drugs, which would explore all avenues as to how to legislate most effectively and deal with their related criminal and public health problems, including the possibility of their legalisation. In 2024 ITV News reported that Farage had "changed his mind on the idea of drug reform, particularly cannabis", with Farage saying drug reform in the United States "hasn't really made much difference".

Smoking ban

In 2013 Farage said that the smoking ban in enclosed public spaces was "silly and illiberal"; he recommended separate smoking areas along the lines of some German states. He said that banning things makes them more attractive to children, and stated that "Obesity is killing more people than smoking, you could ban chip shops, you could ban doughnuts. The point is we are big enough and ugly enough to make our own decisions".

NHS

In 2012, Farage stated “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care”.

In his 2015 book Farage reflected that, based on his experiences, "the NHS is so over-stretched that if you can afford private health care, you should take it, particularly for diagnostics and preventative medicine. In the NHS, the system is so battered and poorly run that unless you are really lucky, you will fall through the cracks. The NHS is, however, astonishingly good at critical care. But what testicular cancer taught me is that the NHS will probably let you down if you need screening, fast diagnosis and an operation at a time that suits you". He supports reform within the NHS, saying that its resources have become stretched due to increased immigration, and blaming Labour for high costs of new hospitals built through private finance initiatives.

Farage said in 2015 that money which the NHS could have spent on treating taxpayers with serious conditions was instead being spent on recent immigrants with HIV. A YouGov poll found 50 per cent of those taking part supported Farage, with 37 per cent saying that he was scaremongering.

Immigration

Muslim immigration

In 2014 Farage said that he supported Muslim immigrants who integrated to British society, but was against those who were "coming here to take us over", citing John Howard's Australia as a government to emulate in that regard. He told a Channel 4 documentary in 2015 that there was a "fifth column" of Islamic extremists in the United Kingdom. Farage has also argued that Muslim immigration to Britain and Europe has fuelled a rise in antisemitism and in an interview with LBC radio stated "What's fuelling it is that there are many more Muslim voices, and some of those Muslim voices are deeply, deeply critical of Israel. In fact, some of them even question the right of Israel to exist as a nation."

Enoch Powell

Farage has said that the "basic principle" of Conservative Party MP Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech was correct: "What he was warning about was the large influx of people into an area, that change an area beyond recognition, there is tension," he said." Farage has also publicly spoken of his admiration for Powell, once calling him his political hero.

Romanians

In a 2014 interview on the LBC radio station, Farage said that he would feel "concerned" if a group of Romanian men moved next door to him. When interviewer James O'Brien inquired what would be the difference between Romanian men moving next door and a group of German children, in reference to Farage's German wife and children, Farage replied: "You know the difference." He later expanded on this on the UKIP website, stating that "if we were able to operate a proper work permit scheme for Romanian nationals, with suitable checks, as recommended by UKIP, then nobody would need to be concerned if a group of Romanian nationals moved in next door to them."

Syrian refugees

Farage called on the British government in 2013 to accept more refugees from the Syrian Civil War. He later said that those refugees should be of the country's Christian minority, due to the existence of nearer Muslim-majority safe countries. During the ensuing migration crisis, Farage alleged that the majority of people claiming to be refugees were economic migrants, and that some were Islamic State militants.

HIV immigrants

In an interview in 2014, Farage suggested that people with HIV should be banned from moving to the UK. During the televised debates in advance of the 2015 election, he said that "You can come into Britain from anywhere in the world and get diagnosed with HIV and get the retro-viral drugs that cost up to £25,000 per year per patient... What we need to do is to put the NHS there for British people and families, who in many cases have paid into the system for decades."

Immigration preference

In a 2015 interview Farage stated that he had a "slight preference" for immigrants from countries such as India and Australia compared to those from Eastern Europe, as they "are in some ways more likely to speak English, understand common law and have a connection with this country".

Illegal immigrants

In 2013, Farage described the tone of the "Go Home" vans advertisements which recommended that illegal immigrants should "go home or face arrest, which he saw as an attempt by the government to be seen to be "doing something" to appeal to UKIP voters, as "nasty" and "unpleasant".

Keir Starmer

In May 2025, responding to Starmer's press conference where he promised a significant fall in net migration by the end of the parliament, Farage accused Starmer of being "insincere" and warned he was "playing catch up" on the issue of immigration, stating "I was using take back control in 2004. Keir Starmer has spent his whole career campaigning for free movement of people wholly unconcerned about this subject, so much so that their massive parliamentary majority was gained without immigration even being one of their five main priorities. Now, of course, he knows that amongst the great British public, this issue rates even higher than the health service. And he's just basically playing catch up with Reform."

Foreign policy

Farage stated that migrant exodus from Libya had been caused by NATO military intervention, approved by David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, in the civil war in Libya.

Australia

Farage has previously been supportive of the Liberal Party of Australia. In 2015, he praised the immigration policy of then-prime minister Tony Abbott. Farage had frequently endorsed an "Australian-style" points system of immigration for the United Kingdom. By 2018, Farage was more critical of the governing Liberal Party, saying "if in Australia there is not a greater connection with those who actually want patriotic values, for those who think that immigration needs looking at, for those who are really worried about energy prices, if the Liberal Party can't sort itself out, then something, a big shock will come along and replace it." In 2019, while speaking at the Sydney Conservative Political Action Conference, he condemned Malcolm Turnbull as a "snake" who "pretended to be a conservative", and praised his successor Scott Morrison, who had ousted Turnbull in a leadership spill the year prior.

Austria

During the 2016 Austrian presidential election campaign, Farage said that Norbert Hofer, the Freedom Party candidate, would call for a "Brexit style referendum" if he won. Hofer, however, ruled out a referendum and asked Farage not to interfere in Austria's internal politics.

France

Farage initially endorsed Nicolas Dupont-Aignan of Debout la France, another party of the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, and later supported Marine Le Pen of the National Front, for the second round of the 2017 French presidential election. Farage said that the basis for his endorsement of Le Pen was his belief that she would be more sympathetic to the UK following Brexit, in contrast to the pro-European Emmanuel Macron.

In 2018 Farage described French President Emmanuel Macron as a "globalist" who wanted "many more powers to be centralised in Brussels, powers taken from the member states".

Ahead of the 2024 French legislative election, Farage praised Le Pen for making her party "electable", but said if she won, her economic policies would be a "disaster".

China

In 2020, Farage said US President Donald Trump was right to refer to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus", and also blamed China for the pandemic, saying "It really is about time we all said it. China caused this nightmare. Period." In June 2020, he called tougher policies on China and boycotting "mass-produced Chinese rubbish", saying China showed its "true colours" during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said competition with China was "the biggest geopolitical struggle since the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago" and said Trump needed to be re-elected to stop China from "effectively taking over the world". In April 2021, he accused New Zealand of having "sold its soul to China" and weakening the Five Eyes. He criticised the use of facial recognition cameras by Essex Police, saying "I don't want to live in China. I don't want to be tracked wherever I go." In October 2024, after the British government announced it would hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Farage said "our American allies will be furious and Beijing delighted".

Germany

Farage spoke at a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany party in advance of the 2017 German federal election, having been personally invited by the party's deputy leader Beatrix von Storch.

Iran

Farage previously opposed sanctions on Iran, and said in 2013 that he would not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, stating: "I do not support acts of aggression, even from countries that feel their existence is threatened".

In 2018 he condemned Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's "record for standing up and defending this hardline Islamist regime" and declared that regime change was "absolutely the right thing" in Iran.

In 2024, Farage changed his position to support sanctions on Iran and condemned the United Nations Security Council for holding a minute of silence for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. He has also opposed calls by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu following the actions of Israel in the Gaza war, arguing "there is no moral equivalence between a terrorist organisation and the prime minister of a country that is going after those terrorists to try and stop October 7th from happening again."

In November 2024, Farage called for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

Russia

When asked in 2014 which leaders he admired, Farage said, "As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin". Farage said that he did not approve of Putin politically. Later, in 2015, he said about Putin that "The European Union, and the West, view Putin as the devil. They want to view Putin as the devil. I'm not saying I want take him around for tea and meet mum on Sunday afternoon ... But the point is, on this bigger overall battle gainst ISIS in Syrian Civil War">Syria