London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, May 31, 2026

‘It’s over’: Nigel Farage quits politics for good

‘It’s over’: Nigel Farage quits politics for good

Nigel Farage, the grassroots Brexit politician largely credited with pressuring David Cameron into having an EU referendum, has quit politics for good.

Mr Farage was the leader of the UK Independence Party until he famously quit after the 2016 Leave vote.

However, he made a sensational return two years later to form the Brexit Party, which later became the Reform Party, as a reaction to the government’s negotiations with the European Union.

Now, it seems, he has finally had enough.

“There’s no going back - Brexit is done,” he told the Sunday Telegraph’s Chopper Politics podcast.

“That won’t be reversed. I know I’ve come back once or twice when people thought I’d gone, but this is it. It’s done. It’s over”.

Mr Farage said he didn’t want to play golf “four times a week followed by half a pint of bitter” but instead intended to campaign against China’s influence in the UK and what he called the “woke agenda”.

“I see our communities being divided more than ever by this agenda. And I’m very worried about it. I want to fight all those things,” he said.

“I have built up over these years quite a considerable social media platform. I’ve got reach. So I want to go on influencing the debate. I want to go on changing debate. But I can do that without going out and fighting elections”.

Mr Farage was originally a member of the Conservative Party but left after John Major signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the foundation treaty of the European Union.

He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988 and the couple had two children, Samuel and Thomas, before divorcing in 1997.

The 56-year-old later married Kirsten Farage in 1992 and the pair had two children.

In 2017, Mrs Farage told the Press Association that the couple were living "separate lives" and that Mr Farage had "moved out of the family home a while ago".

Mr Farage told the Chopper Politics podcast “the really difficult bit” of politics was the “way it affects those close to you, your family, your children”.

In a video statement posted on Twitter on Saturday night, Mr Farage said Brexit had been his “life’s work” and had taken over “the best part of three decades” but now is the time to step away.

The news of Mr Farage’s departure from politics comes after Laurence Fox announced he is campaigning to be the next Mayor of London.

Mr Fox has also become an outspoken critic against so-called “wokeism” and said he is standing as mayor to “offer a voice to those who are being dominated into silence”.

The actor announced in September that he was launching a political party for the “reclamation” of British values.

His anti-woke Reclaim Party was approved by the Electoral Commission last month and he has previously spoken about his mission to oppose being “woke” for the “rest of his days”.

Mr Fox told the Telegraph that “public debate has been strangled”.

He referenced recent protests which saw campaigners call for statues, many of which are dedicated to famous Britons who profited from the Transatlantic slave trade, be removed.

Mr Fox said he was angered by the “disrespect being shown to the sacrifices made by previous generations to protect our values, tolerance and freedom”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×