London: Nigel Farage, who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, on Monday quit as the leader of the anti-immigrant UKIP party, saying he wanted his “life back” as he has fulfilled his political ambition of ‘Brexit’. Farage, 52, said he has done his bit for the cause of Britain leaving the 28-member economic bloc.
“I have never been and never wanted to be a career politician,” said Farage, who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for UK Independence Party in 1999. “I now feel that I’ve done my bit, that I couldn’t possibly achieve more,” he told reporters. “I feel it’s right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.”
Farage, who led a separate grassroots campaign to convince voters of a ‘Brexit’, had made numerous speeches in the wake of the result to declare June 23 Britain’s “Independence Day.”
He was at the heart of some of the biggest controversies during the campaign, including an anti-immigration poster of refugees flocking to enter southern Europe, which was dubbed as a “vile” by both the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ camps.
He has quit as UKIP leader twice before – in 2009 over party infighting and in 2015 after failing to become an MP. But on both occasions decided to stay. He, however, insisted today that “I won’t be changing my mind again, I promise you”.
“The victory for the ‘Leave’ side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved,” he said. “During the referendum campaign, I said ‘I want my country back’… now I want my life back, and it begins right now.”
He said UKIP was instrumental in winning the referendum for the Leave campaign, championing the issue of immigration, and insisted it would continue as a party in its current form. UKIP would continue to stop “weakness or appeasement from the British government” when it comes to negotiating Brexit with the economic bloc, the anti-immigrant party leader said. (PTI)
