How’s this for a terrible confession? There has always been a small part of me that admires Nigel Farage. As a Remainer liberal, it’s hard to admit. I disagree with Farage on many things. And my (partial) admiration doesn’t mean I forgive him for some of the low points of his political career, not least the disgraceful ‘Breaking Point’ poster unveiled in the lead-up to the EU referendum, nor his earlier comments about migrants with HIV. Yet I have a soft spot for outsiders, particularly ones like Farage who beat the odds.
What Farage achieved, all from outside a two-party system pitted against him, is unprecedented in the history of British politics. When you think back to where Euroscepticism was as an issue back in 2010 – and how Farage, more than anyone else, managed to drag it to the forefront of British politics in under a decade – it becomes clear that his achievements are simply astonishing. It’s not foolish to think there would never have been an EU referendum without the work of Nigel Farage.
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