“I’m a hero to some people, and an absolute villain to millions,” Nigel Farage said on his first day in the I’m A Celebrity camp. “In the jungle, you’re going to find the real me.”
The 59-year-old’s inclusion seems to be part of a pattern of rehabilitating divisive politicians; disgraced former health secretary Matt Hancock joined last year’s series after he was forced to resign from his government position for breaking Covid-19 restrictions while conducting an affair.
Hero or villain, there is no doubt that Farage’s three decades in British politics have been defined by controversy. Dubbed “the man who broke Britain” for his role in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and viewed by many as a far-right bigot, he is no stranger to scandal.
‘Shouting Hitler Youth songs’ as a child
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Even from an early age, Farage was no stranger to controversy.
While at south London private school Dulwich college, Farage was active in the Conservative Party, after being inspired by a school visit by Tory MP Keith Joseph.
Famously decried by David Cameron as a bunch of ‘fruitcakes, loonies, and closet racists’, UKIP quickly became scandal-ridden
But in 1981, an English teacher wrote to the headteacher asking him to reconsider his decision to appoint him a prefect, citing reports of fascist views. Another teacher said that on a Combined Cadet Force camp organised by the college, Farage and others “marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”.
Both the headmaster and the deputy headmaster rejected the claims about extreme views, and the latter said Farage merely enjoyed provoking left-wing teachers whom he thought had no sense of humour.
Farage later stated: “Any accusation [that] I was ever involved in far-right politics is utterly untrue.”
Around a third of sixth-form students at Dulwich went on to study at Oxbridge. Farage was not one them; after getting mediocre A-level results, he rejected university altogether, and went to work in the City in order to “make a lot of money”, according to his biography.
‘The man who broke Britain’ – UKIP and Brexit
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Farage was a founder member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 1993, after years of being a prominent Eurosceptic.
In 1994, he asked Enoch Powell, whom he once described as one of his idols, to back UKIP but was turned down.
He was elected leader of the party in 2006, with 45 per cent of the vote.
Famously decried by David Cameron as a bunch of “fruitcakes, loonies, and closet racists”, UKIP quickly became scandal-ridden, with one MEP jailed for fraud, and others embroiled in racism scandals.
Nevertheless, Farage managed to take the party from the political fringe to the mainstream, by pulling together a coalition of angry voters from across normal party lines. UKIP saw significant breakthroughs at the 2013 local elections, 2014 European Parliamentary elections, and 2015 general election.
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In the process, he cornered then prime minister Cameron into promising the 2016 Brexit referendum. His focus on immigration was heavily criticised by opponents (more on this later), especially a campaign poster showing a line of asylum seekers with the words “Breaking Point” on it.
Mere hours after the UK voted to leave the EU, Farage had already admitted that one of the Leave campaign’s key pledges – £350 million extra for the NHS per week, famously plastered on the Brexit tour bus – was a “mistake”.
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Farage then stepped down as UKIP leader, later setting up the Brexit Party. Four months later, it topped the polls in the 2019 European Parliamentary elections.
UKIP subsequently saw its vote share and membership heavily decline, losing almost all its elected representatives. It then drifted even further towards a far-right, anti-Islam message.
A complete list of his allegedly racist remarks
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His claim that some Muslim immigrants are ‘coming here to take us over’
When he agreed with the ‘basic principle’ of Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech
In 2014, he said that the “basic principle” of Enoch Powell’s infamous anti-immigration Rivers of Blood speech was correct.
Saying he felt ‘uncomfortable’ hearing foreign languages on the Tube
In a 2014 interview on LBC, Farage said he felt “uncomfortable” when he heard people speaking in other languages on London transport.
Geoff Caddick / AFP / Getty
When LBC radio presenter James O’Brien followed that by asking why he objects to Romanian migrants but not Germans – like his wife – Farage retorted: “You know the difference.”
Farage also suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of Romanians.
When he blamed immigrants for getting stuck in traffic
That same year, Farage also blamed immigrants when he was more than two hours late for an event, claiming they were causing traffic on the M4.
“That has nothing to do with professionalism,” he said of his lateness. “What is does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof, chiefly because of open-door immigration, and the fact the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be.”
Defending the word “ch***y” to describe a Chinese person
Two months later, he defended a UKIP candidate for using the word “ch**ky” to describe a Chinese person.
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“If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?” he asked.
Allegations of antisemitism
In 2017, Farage came under fire for antisemitism after an LBC interview in which he described the so-called US “Jewish lobby” as a concern of his.
His infamous anti-immigration poster
Farage came under fire for his 2016 anti-immigration poster, which depicted a line of refugees, the majority of whom were non-white and male, under the slogan “breaking point”.
It was branded “vile” by chancellor of the time George Osbourne, who said it “echoed” Nazi propaganda.
Boris Johnson, who led the official Vote Leave campaign, said the poster was “not our campaign” and “not my politics”.
‘Maybe it’s because I’ve got so many women pregnant over the years that I have a different view’
Nigel Farage on maternity leave
Calling for a ban on people with HIV immigrating to the UK
Farage also called for a ban on people with HIV migrating to the UK. When asked who should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: “People who do not have HIV, to be frank. That’s a good start. And people with a skill.”
In 2015, he also said that NHS money spent on recent immigrants with HIV would be better placed treating other taxpayers with serious conditions.
The time his UKIP campaign plane crashed on election day
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One of Farage’s most famous moments came on election day in 2010, when his two-seater UKIP campaign plane crashed after his “Vote UKIP” banner became entangled, causing the aircraft to nosedive.
Before the plane took off, Farage allegedly joked: “I just hope the plane doesn’t blow up and crash.”
Farage was seen walking out of the aircraft covered in blood before being taken to Horton hospital in Banbury.
He later admitted he thought he was going to die in the crash, from which he emerged with fractured neck vertebrae, and broken ribs.
Ben Pruchnie / Getty Images
On women and work, Farage said in 2014: “If a woman with a client base has a child and takes two or three years off work, she is worth far less to the employer when she comes back than when she goes away because her client base cannot be stuck rigidly to her.”
He also added: “Maybe it’s because I’ve got so many women pregnant over the years that I have a different view [of maternity leave].”
“If all of us were caught out on what we’ve said on a night out after a drink, none of us would be here,” he added.
In 2014, the UKIP leader also said that breastfeeding women should “sit in the corner”.
‘Brilliant’ – his admiration for Vladimir Putin
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On his political idols, Farage said in 2014: “As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin. The way he played the whole Syria thing. Brilliant.”
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Farage’s views on the Russian dictator seem to have have mellowed slightly.
Farage praised Trump for ‘dominating’ Hillary Clinton like a ‘silverback gorilla’ in an election debate
“Vladimir Putin is a nationalist Russian. He wants to get back – at least I thought he wanted to get back – the Russian-speaking areas [of Ukraine] into his country,” he said.
“Those provinces in Ukraine, well, they are Russian-speaking… I always thought we were dealing with someone very logical, but now I don’t think he is.”
He said that the invasion was “abhorrent” but also “predictable”, and blamed Putin’s actions on the EU and Nato provoking him.
‘I would vote for him’ – his support for Donald Trump
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Farage has been consistently vocal about his support for former US president Donald Trump, and was even the first British politician to meet him after his 2016 victory.
In the run-up to the US presidential elections of 2016, Farage said that if he could, he would vote for Donald Trump.
Ian West / PA Wire
In July 2023, Farage obtained internal documents from private bank Coutts, owned by NatWest, that showed its reputational risk committee had accused him of “pandering to racists” and being a “disingenuous grifter”. It decided that his politics were “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation” and notified him of the intention to close his accounts.
NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose admitted she had misled a BBC reporter into believing that Coutts took the decision solely for commercial reasons, leading to an inaccurate article.
The scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Dame Alison in July and the departure of Peter Flavel, the chief executive of Coutts, soon after.
An independent review into the decision to close Farage’s accounts found that although there were “serious failings” in NatWest’s treatment of the former politician, the decision was lawful. Farage responded by calling the report a “whitewash”.
