The Former UKIP Leader Has Returned to the Campaign Trail

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), has re-entered the mainstream political sphere. This followed a two-plus-year hiatus after the 2016 referendum that put the UK on the track to leave the European Union (EU). Nigel has returned with a bang, not aligning himself with any established political party such as the Conservatives or UKIP. Instead, he created his own party based around the single issue of Brexit.

With “Mr. Brexit” Nigel Farage championing a new party, the political climate around Brexit is as hot as ever.



The Brexit Party emerges much to the chagrin of UKIP. Gerard Batten, the current leader of the party, expressed his discontent with Farage in an April 19 press conference. Said Batten: “UKIP is a party that has been around since 1993…we have organized over the years…and we run on a platform of leaving the European Union. Somebody decides to leave UKIP and create another party to fight the same elections…Nigel Farage hasn’t spoken to me in 12 months; he could’ve come up to me at any time…”

Batten’s main reservations seem that Nigel’s Brexit Party is minimally organized with almost all the power held by Nigel himself.

Farage Breaks Ranks With His Old Mates

So what are Nigel’s true intentions are in formulating this new party. Is he truly as committed as ever to making Brexit a reality? Or is this newly formed party merely a means for Nigel Farage to increase his own personal political influence? The latter seems to be the UKIP assumption about the mirror organization he created.

UKIP is a much more decentralized and organized political party with a track record of fielding candidates at all levels. Defections have occurred from UKIP to the Brexit Party, however, since it officially launched on April 12. Part of that is the result of UKIP aligning itself with controversial activist Tommy Robinson. Will this division among Brexiteers split the vote and thwart either or both parties’ chances in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections? Will these elections, currently scheduled for May 23, even happen if Prime Minister Theresa May manages to finally get her withdrawal agreement through the House of Commons in London? For different reasons, Commons has voted down the agreement three time so far.

If the polls are accurate, which is a big if as we know on this side of the Atlantic, the Brexit Party seems to be surging.

The Brexit Party has now leapfrogged the Tories and Labour to take first place in our latest EU Parliament poll:

Brexit Party – 27%

Labour – 22%

Con – 15%

Green – 10%

Lib Dem – 9%

UKIP – 7%

Change UK – 6%

SNP/Plaid – 4%

Other – 1%https://t.co/pC1eQCniFm pic.twitter.com/cFPOD8kbAJ — YouGov (@YouGov) April 17, 2019 Archive.is

In tomorrow’s UK local elections, moreover, many observers expect that the Conservative Party will take a pounding. If it happens that way, it would be a protest vote primarily by grassroots Conservatives in response to the government’s failure under PM May to implement Brexit. The legal separation restoring the country’s independence over trade, immigration, and other issues was supposed to take place on March 29. It’s too soon for the Brexit Party to compete locally, so the far-left Labor Party seems most likely to benefit by default.

Brexit Supporters Have a Choice

An article published in the just relaunched Human Events by Raheem Kassam details the reasons why Farage started the breakaway party. Kassam, a former Farage senior advisor, describes the Brexit Party as “a cross-party, cross-philosophy phenomenon borne out of equal parts frustration at the government’s handling of the Brexit process, and Farage’s falling out of love with UKIP.”

The Human Events global editor-in-chief also claims that “the Brexit Party offers the best choice” for electing pro-Brexit, Euroskeptics to the EU parliament, where Farage has served since 1999.

One thing is for certain: With “Mr. Brexit” (as President Trump has called him) Nigel Farage championing a new party, the political climate around Brexit is as hot as ever. And the temperature only seems to be going up.