Leader of Brexit

Dănilă Dragoș-Vasile, IRES 3

Personal & Professional Path
To begin with, Nigel Farage was born in Kent, England and the attended the courses of London’s
independent Dulwich College. He then refused to pursue an academic path, but rather work in
trading commodities at the London Metal Exchange and, in the following years, embarked on a
business brokerage system, offering his services for Drexel Burnham Lambert, Crédit Lyonnais
Rouse and Refco among others.1
From early years, Mr. Farage showed a growing interest towards politics and Conservative Party,
but in the same period the first allegations of pro-fascist views emerged, however his Eurosceptic
attitudes became more visible after his support towards 1989’s Green Party campaign and 1992’s
withdrawal from Conservative Party, as a protest toward signing of the Treaty on European Union
at Maastricht.2
Consequently, Farage founded United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) IN 1993, which
gathered three failures concerning British and European Parliamentarian elections. Eventually, he
was elected MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament election, being re-
elected in 2004, 2009 and 2014. It need to be mentioned that he also established and leads the
multinational Eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy.
Beginning with 2006, Nigel Farage assumed the leadership of his party, depicted as “the center-
ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition"3, until 2009 after the
unsuccessful campaign to obtain a seat in Westminster Palace, but he returned one year later.
In 2014, Farage’s UKIP shocked the British public opinion, being for the first time in over 100
years that a UK political party other than Labour or Conservatives had won a national election.
After another defeat in British Parliamentarian elections and a refusal of UKIP to accept his
resignation in 2015, Nigel Farage unexpectedly stepped down again from UK leadership, in the
summer of 2016, after Brexit Referendum, coming up with the following clarification: "During
the referendum I said I wanted my country back … now I want my life back." 4 He also asserted
that his decision was final and there would be no return due to the fact he never really wanted to
be a politician in the first place.

1
Rosie Goldsmith, "BBC News - Profile: Nigel Farage, UKIP Leader," Archive.is, April 19, 2013, accessed October 29,
2018, https://archive.is/20130419181336/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20543513.
2
"UK | UK Politics | Profile: Nigel Farage," BBC News, September 12, 2006, accessed October 29, 2018,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5338364.stm.
3
"UK | UK Politics | Profile: Nigel Farage," BBC News, September 12, 2006, accessed October 29, 2018,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5338364.stm.
4
Rowena Mason, Robert Booth, and Amelia Gentleman, "Nigel Farage Resigns as Ukip Leader after 'achieving
Political Ambition' of Brexit," The Guardian, July 04, 2016, accessed October 29, 2018,
https://web.archive.org/web/20160705150119/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/04/nigel-farage-
resigns-as-ukip-leader.
Moreover, Farage championed Trump5 and Marine Le Pen6 in their national presidential
campaigns and because of his increasing popularity, he was offered his own broadcast show on
British LBC and was hired as a commentator by Fox News Networks.
Lately, an unavoidable return to political scene is in place for the man, who forged the concept of
Brexit, after Theresa May’s soft-Brexit Chequers deal was rejected by the European Union.
Leadership Analysis
As an inconsistent, atypical challenging leader7 that overly glorifies his small victories, Nigel
Farage leadership style pertains traits of “open to information leaders”, in reality making use of
manipulation and selective data. As far as the reasons behind his political courses of action are
concerned, one could distinguish a classic pattern in which the internal focus is justified by the
relationship with constituents, seeking his own interest by promoting public issues.
In order to further strengthen the argument, one could easily put in the light certain Farage’s
characteristics found in his speeches, in which he is mostly aware of his importance in British
context, thus, as main actor advocates for his own definition of the events, providing the impression
that his truth is superior to others.
Discounting contradictory opinions, pinpointing the goals and treating with negligence the Brexit
process shows not only the lack of empathy in front of the very people he is trying to represent,
but also his narrow framework of dealing with the word and the fragility of leadership, overall.
The constant use of “whataboutism” adds an interesting feature to his charismatic image that
explains the persuasion and mobilization of the Brexiters, however Mr. Farage as the face of the
idea of Brexit scores an unprecedented level of marketing boosting his Actively Independent
Discourse Type.
Even his bold statements tests the limits of free speech, calumny and abuse are impaired with fake
or at least questionable news, the former-UKIP leader succeeds in appearing a figure of power and
influence, whose beliefs and motivations might be seen as controversial, but the level of group
management control is real.
In regard with his rhetorical display, one should touch the opportunistic and the adaptable nature
of Farage that tries to strike a balance between creating the broader political context and being a
product of the social context. He is a memory entrepreneur, who inspires a “winner complex” in
front of the public, referring to glorious fragments of realities, himself, Donald Trump to empower
and consolidate certain feelings, regulating crowds’ behavior.

5
Richard Quest, "Nigel Farage on Brexit and Donald Trump (Full CNN Interview)," YouTube, June 28, 2016,
accessed October 29, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYOqSW7VAsk.
6
Nigel Farage, "Nigel Farage Interviews Marine Le Pen," YouTube, March 16, 2017, accessed October 29, 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXfvvXwgQy4.
7
Seb Dance, "Does Nigel Farage Tell Lies? Yes, Here's Five Of Them," HuffPost UK, February 04, 2018, accessed
October 29, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/seb-dance/nigel-farage-seb-dance_b_14591852.html.
 On multiple occasions, Nigel Farage proved to be a disloyal character and because of his inability
to bear responsibility8 and shift the blame9, one could to point out that he is not definitely a victim
of the events he creates. As a tactician and hierarchy-maker within his party and other
organizations, he delivers an ingenious catalyst in which he exploits the typical flaws of European
societies, such as unemployment and sovereignty, to demonize minorities, envisaging “others”-
East Europeans and refugees10- as the enemies from within.
The zero-sum game he preaches in relation with other EU-member states in European Parliament
entitles him with the role of leader and influencer. Contrasting as Farage could be seen, he is a
simple politician that is a continuous pursuit of office and fame making use of populistic tools, lies
and stereotypes to increase his personal appeal entering in conflicts and making himself
noteworthy.
Eventually, Farage is the reflection of consistent part of British society, per se, his presence on the
political arena cannot be classified as benign or malevolent, however his insurgent leadership is a
proof of the need of change of the today’s political systems. The democratic deficit and the gap
between the representatives and electorate could only be filled by nonconforming individuals, as
Nigel Farage, who appear as anti-establishment policy-makers and representing the greater interest
of the nation, though the facts show the same interest groups, as “power behind the throne”,
scandals and the same lack of representativeness, just sugarcoated.

Bibliography
Farage, Nigel. "Nigel Farage Resigns as UKIP Leader: 'I Want My Life Back' - BBC News."
YouTube. July 04, 2016. Accessed October 29, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KlWLTdjpuc.
"British Prime Minister Theresa May Has to Go: Nigel Farage." YouTube. July 09, 2018. Accessed
October 29, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wwsjdXK1c.
Dance, Seb. "Does Nigel Farage Tell Lies? Yes, Here's Five Of Them." HuffPost UK. February 04,
2018. Accessed October 29, 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/seb-dance/nigel-farage-seb-
dance_b_14591852.html.
Farage, Nigel. "Nigel Farage Interviews Marine Le Pen." YouTube. March 16, 2017. Accessed
October 29, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXfvvXwgQy4.
Goldsmith, Rosie. "BBC News - Profile: Nigel Farage, UKIP Leader." Archive.is. April 19, 2013.
Accessed October 29, 2018. https://archive.is/20130419181336/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
politics-20543513.
Hermann, Margaret G. ASSESSING LEADERSHIP STYLE: A TRAIT ANALYSIS. Social Science
Automation, 1999.

8
Nigel Farage, "Nigel Farage Resigns as UKIP Leader: 'I Want My Life Back' - BBC News," YouTube, July 04, 2016,
accessed October 29, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KlWLTdjpuc.
9
"British Prime Minister Theresa May Has to Go: Nigel Farage," YouTube, July 09, 2018, accessed October 29,
2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wwsjdXK1c.
Mason, Rowena, Robert Booth, and Amelia Gentleman. "Nigel Farage Resigns as Ukip Leader after
'achieving Political Ambition' of Brexit." The Guardian. July 04, 2016. Accessed October 29,
2018.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160705150119/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/04/
nigel-farage-resigns-as-ukip-leader.
Quest, Richard. "Nigel Farage on Brexit and Donald Trump (Full CNN Interview)." YouTube. June
28, 2016. Accessed October 29, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYOqSW7VAsk.
"UK | UK Politics | Profile: Nigel Farage." BBC News. September 12, 2006. Accessed October 29,
2018. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5338364.stm.
"UKIP 'voice of British Majority'." BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | UKIP 'voice of British
Majority'. November 7, 2006. Accessed October 29, 2018.
https://web.archive.org/web/20130919230637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/54152
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