Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage has been one of the defining figures in British Eurosceptic and populist politics since the mid-1990s. He co-founded and led the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2016, steering it from fringe protest to 12% of the UK popular vote and a pivotal role in forcing David Cameron's 2016 EU referendum pledge. After the referendum result, he resigned the UKIP leadership, then founded the Brexit Party in 2019 — which won the European Parliament elections that year with 29 seats — before renaming it Reform UK. He stood unsuccessfully in seven general elections before winning the Clacton seat on his eighth attempt at the July 2024 general election, finally entering the House of Commons.

At the May 2026 elections, Reform UK — operating under Farage's leadership — contested every English local authority seat and the devolved parliaments. YouGov's final tracker placed Reform at 25% nationally, ahead of all parties. The party projected approximately 1,300 net English council gains, 34 Senedd seats in Wales, and 19 regional seats at Holyrood. Reform also became the largest party in 14 English councils, including taking outright control in Sunderland and Wakefield.

In May 2026, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened a formal investigation on 13 May into an undeclared £5 million personal gift that Farage reportedly received from Christopher Harborne in early 2024 — a donation not declared in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. Three parallel inquiries now run: the Standards Commissioner on declarations, the Electoral Commission on party donations, and the FCA on Farage's declared £215,000 stake in Stack BTC. The investigations do not affect his parliamentary seat but add reputational pressure during Reform's first major local-government accountability test.