Front Burner - Nigel Farage: Mr. Brexit's wild ride

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

For more than a decade, Nigel Farage has been one of the most influential people in British politics. His anti-Europe crusade was key to securing Brexit. And up until recently, it seemed quite possible that his right-wing populist party, Reform UK, could win the next general election. Then, Andy Burnham took over as the new Labour prime minister. And a string of financial scandals appeared to put the normally unflappable Farage on his heels. In July, Farage quit his seat in parliament, saying he wanted voters to judge him in a "people versus the establishment" by-election. The other main political parties called it a stunt, and refused to put forward any candidates. On Thursday, Farage will face off against his main opponent: a joke candidate who goes by Count Binface. Farage is expected to win, but will still face an investigation and possible suspension when he returns to parliament. Sam Blewett is Politico’s UK Political Correspondent, and he joins guest host Jason Markusoff to discuss, with his approval rating at an all time low, whether Nigel Farage missed his moment. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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New episodes dropping every Wednesday. is a CBC podcast. Hey, it's Jason Markisov, filling in for Jamie. For more than a decade, Nigel Farage has been one of the most influential people in British politics. Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom.

I mean, what's not to like? I know you're going to miss us. I know you want to ban our national flags, but we're going to wave you, goodbye. And we'll look forward. And until recently, it seemed quite possible that his right-wing populist party, Reform UK, could win the next election. Then, a new Labour Prime Minister and a string of scandals threw a wrench in those plans. Did Nigel Farage break parliamentary rules by accepting a five million-pound gift from a Thailand-based crypto-billionaire and not declaring it?

Three months of headlines around this five-million-pound gift later. And for Nigel Farage's opponents, it continues. used to be the gift that keeps on giving. In the wake of that, Nigel Farage resigned from Parliament and right away announced he would run again in the by-election. No, I've decided that the people of Clacton

should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. Farage is almost guaranteed to win Thursday's vote. None of the other major parties are running candidates against him. And his main opponent is an independent who wears a garbage can on his head

and goes by Count Binface, but polls suggest his chances of ending up as the next British Prime Minister may be waning. Today, did Nigel Farage miss his moment? Sam Blewett, with Politico, isn't so sure. He's here with me now to explain why, despite everything, it's hard to count Nigel Farage out. Hi, Sam, thanks for joining us. Hi, Jason, good to be here. So I want to get into this by-election and Nigel Farage's political future. But first, so for Canadians who may have not been following,

Nigel Farage's career too closely. How do you characterize his approach to politics? Yeah, I mean, Nigel Farage, I think he comes across to most voters as a bit of an every man, you know, he's the sort of pint-swilling, cigarette-smoking, sort of man of the people. Well, I'm now in the cherry tree in Little Oakley, and it's a pint, and it's a penny off because of the budget, and this is saving me a pound a week. We're lunching today? I don't know if we've got time, actually. We've probably didn't have a... £1.5.

But I might have a beer, you know. There's a certain proportion of the public who just loves him. He feels that they speak his language, and he really does. He cuts through much more than the more mainstream rivals, particularly recently we had Kirstama, seen as the archetypal wooden kind of politician. He's been swept away now. We've got Andy Burnham, who's a bit more of a rival on the sort of plain speaking front. But Nigra Farage really has been the politician who's been sort of mastering back for the last decade or so.

And we're talking about somebody who has had a very, very long career in politics. He was a founding member of the UK Independence Party, or UKIP, back in 1993, and later it's leader. What started as a murmur in the pubs and clubs and wherever people congregate in this country is now beginning to reach a crescendo roar. And what people are saying is get Britain out. He was a member of the European Parliament for 21 years. You have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk. And the question that I want to ask, the question that I want to ask, that we're all going to ask is, who are you? I'd never heard of you.

Nobody in Europe had ever heard of you. I would like to ask you, President, who voted for you? And his goal during that whole time was for the UK to leave the European Union. He gets that wish with Brexit in 2016. Let, let June the 23rd go down. in our history as our Independence Day. And so, Sam, what becomes his political raison d'etre after that? Yeah, actually, you know, that could have been a moment that he sort of slipped into a nice

retirement, right? You know, he achieved his main aim. During the referendum campaign, I said, I want my country back. And what I'm saying today is I want my life back. And it begins right now. Thank you. And then, actually, came for a pandemic. and he started this reform party, which for a while, it was a bit anti-lockdown. It was a bit of a libertarian kind of front against some of the sort of draconian measures people were feeling.

But, you know, as the pandemic swept away, it kind of kept that outsider status and built it quite a bit of headway, sort of like polling low digits for a while, but, you know, having its voice heard on the outsider politics. And then until the 2024 general election, the last one just gone. Nigel Farage decided to step back into the front line politics and lead the party once more. And he really took politics by storm at that point. Well, guess he was back. Back again. Now, you know, he only did so well on that that general election.

He himself actually got elected as an MP for the first time. Farage Nigel Paul, Reform UK. 21,000, 225. That was his eighth time of trying. So, you know, as popular as he is, he certainly does have his critics. But yeah, so he, he and about four or five others, they enter Parliament. From there on, he has gone from strength to strength. In the May, local elections, managed to take control of a whole swave of English county councils and local councils.

So that gave him a real foothold in politics. And just to look at the national polling, his reform party has way outpolled the Labour Party for the last year or so. he's nudged for like establishment conservative party into third. That's the other right wing party. And just until, actually until today, our polar polls for the first time have labor in front by one percentage point. But really, that's after about 18 months of reform being sky high and yeah, number one in the race to be the next prime minister. So he started with Brexit being his big animating cause. It seems like since then, immigration has taken the forefront of his political. rhetoric. Is that per se? Yeah, totally. But like, these two things have always been very closely intertwined, right? I think the successful message in the 2016 Brexit referendum was take back control.

And that meant largely take back control of our borders. To be a member of the European Union, you accept freedom of movement. So, you know, people from across Europe could come live here. Now, a lot of people felt that that led to two high levels of immigration into Britain. So, yeah, I mean, I think front and centre of Brexit was immigration. Immigration is the number one issue in British politics. It has been for some years. The opinion polls are astonishing. 77% of the British public want cuts to the numbers coming into Britain.

And over half the voters want a rejection to near zero. The only way we get control is to vote to leave the European Union. And, you know, actually Brexit didn't deliver the low levels of migration. that some people hoped it would. The pandemic was one main issue why we, you know, that led to a large scale sort of freezing of movement of people, right? Well, the government at the time under Boris Johnson, the Conservative, decided they needed to get people in quick. And they really opened the doors to immigrants from across the world to come and prop up certain ailing sectors. And that caused a really big influx, which has helped drive some of

this, you drive immigration back up the agenda. And the same with it. the small boats crisis. So we've got hundreds of people coming across the channel every day in dinghies. The number of migrants crossing the channel to the UK in small boats has risen by more than 40%. It's putting increasing pressure on the government, which promised to smash the gangs organizing the dangerous journeys. For a long time, I think that at least one area of discussion around it was a humanitarian one. I think there was a great deal of sympathy from subsections of the public towards these people. But I think over time, opinion has hardened and they feel, again, I think the general sense is a lack of control. So yeah, that's really pushed this migration debate back

up to the very top of the agenda where it has been for quite some time. Farage isn't without his own controversies. I mean, I was reading this Guardian article with the headline, an almost comprehensive guide to Nigel Farage's many scandals. Got racism and corruption allegations over time, backroom deals. Other than Sam, the financial scandal he's currently engulfed with, are there any of those scandals or controversies that stand out to you to define him? Look, there has been plenty of allegations over the past, but generally I think people have, or at least a certain suave of the electorate, have taken a look at those and

thought, actually, he's still our guide, you know? he's had these high, or very divisive personal polling levels, right? Some members of the public, he's their right or die. They love him and I'll vote for him come what may. I think what's more interesting is how they affect the sort of hovering middle that he would need to become prime minister. So 2024, he finally wins a seat, reform, UK gets a foothold in Parliament. And then fast forward to May of last year,

they're writing high national polls reform is, and they went hundreds of local council seats, decimating labor and the conservatives. How unstoppable did Nigel Farage appear at that point? Yeah, I think, you know, he really seemed like not the prime minister in waiting. That would be too much to say. There was still a long way to go and plenty of reasons for him to potentially trip up. But yeah, he seemed like the favorite. Businesses started to court him and his party. They started to panic really and think, actually, if this guy really does get into government, well, we've done no outreach to him. We need to know how to contact him in his people in order

to have a bit of influence. I think the media started treating him a bit more like, yeah, he could be the next prime minister, at least he's a really serious contender for it now. But yeah, I think, you know, there's always been reasons to suspect that it would be a much more difficult journey to number 10 than that. Was it the decline of Labour and Conservative politics or people's faith in them that propelled him or was it Nigel Farage himself propelling himself upwards over those parties? Yeah, I think both have worked in tandem, right? We had the Conservatives in charge here for 14 years. There was a long period of austerity. And they kept winning elections in part because the opposition was all pretty unpopular. Labor had finally won back Parliament. Kirstama becomes Prime Minister. But turns out, they just voted him in to get rid of the Conservatives. So yeah, on the back of that, that laid really ripe territory for Nigel Farage to come in. And, you know, use his very populist and popular rhetoric, whether it's about migration.

It's almost in a bit of a sort of a drain-the-spomp kind of way of looking at Westminster, where most power sits in this country. And, yeah, it was just that really fertile land for him to come in and capitalize on that. This week on two blocks from the White House, Democratic Socialist and leftist candidates have been seeing success in Democratic primaries, but it remains to be seen if they can win in general elections. So this week, we're asking, in what direction is the Democratic Party going? Join me and two guest correspondents this week, Jamie Poisson and Josh Wingrove, as we break down

U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective. Find and follow two blocks from the White House wherever you get your podcast. And watch our CBC friends on YouTube. New episodes dropping every Wednesday. So then he's at the peak of his powers, it seems, in May with these local council elections. in June. Starmor announces he's leaving as Prime Minister and former greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham succeeds him. We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years, a new political model and a new economic model.

That's the 7th PM for the UK since Brexit. How does all this play out for Farage? Yeah, I think the second you see Kierstaamer announces resignation, you can track Labor's polling, just start going upwards. Gistama just couldn't connect with the voters. He was deeply unpopular. You know, his allies and those who are still fond of him can't entirely see why. I mean, they'd say he's not a particularly bad chap, to be honest, a pretty average guy who rose to the top of politics from a pretty humble background. But, you know, he just couldn't connect with voters and he couldn't read the room of the nation. As soon as he announces resignation, Labor's polling starts tracking up. And that's only continued going upwards as Andy Burnham has taken over. Though, let's just put it this way, I think there's every reason to think that Andy Burnham is going to have a really difficult ride ahead of him as well. But how do you see Farage adjusting to going up against Andy Burnham? The last week or so, he has again returned to the topic of migration. They tried offshore processing. They tried a number of things.

And in the end, what worked was towing the boats back to Indonesia. And since then, hardly a boat has landed in Australia. I am entirely confident that under a reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats. It's all sort of intertwined with our very poor justice system at the moment. The prisons for a long time have been very close to breaking point. Labor government had to make a really difficult decision of letting prisoners out early just so that they could continue locking up new prisoners. I mean, things are really that dire.

So Nigel Farage, he's quite cleverly tried to talk. twin that problem with many voters' fears about immigration. So he came out with a big pitch day, sorry, earlier this week, talking about deporting all foreign national offenders. We send people back to their country of origin. So it needs a phone call with Eddie Rama from Albania, etc. And if they refuse, we then send foreign national offenders off to third parties. So we've come out with this very populace, sort of quite high.

hard right appeal to voters over migration. And he'll keep doing it. I mean, it's summer. So in summer times when the weather is calmer, the winds aren't blowing quite as hard. That's when we see real numbers of small boats making unauthorized trips with asylum seekers and other migrants across the channel. So yeah, I think he sees real fertile ground to sort of try and recapture the narrative both on migration and our sort of ailing state as well. And he'll keep trying to ram back home, I'm unsure. So I know here in Canada, having policies that seem can be cast as Trumpy is like a kryptonite for politicians. It is how, how does that sort of trumpiness of what Farage does play to voters there? It pays in two ways. So I think to those who are trying to like Farage,

actually, it's not such a bad thing because one thing that goes with trumpiness, I suppose, is an ability to get things done, to round things through. matter what the costs. And actually, that can be quite a popular process for all of its, the blowback that it can cause. But yeah, I think then to probably a largest wave of the public, they're quite turned off by his sort of Trump-like attitude to things. And also his relationship with Trump as well, you know, he's sort of part of this global network of nationalists who can get on incredibly well and can support each other and can come up against each other at times. But that those pictures of Farage in the gold lift with Trump after, I think, it was Trump's first election,

they do come back to haunt Farage quite somewhat, I think. Sam, we've alluded to it, but I do want to bring up those financial scandals, bring them in here. The Guardian first reported in April that Farage was given a five million pound gift by a Thai-based crypto billionaire that he didn't disclose, potentially in breach of parliamentary rules. It's under investigation, I understand. Then the Sunday Times reveals that a convicted crypto gambler, nicknamed Posh George, has been financing Farage's lifestyle. What reason has Farage given for why he was given this money?

I think varying reasons, actually. First, it was security. I've been the most attacked physically, politician of modern times. This money is the only way I can look after myself and protect myself for the rest of my life. The rules are clear, though, aren't they? The rules are very, very, very. clear. And believe you me, we've looked at this from every legal angle. There is no obligation to declare something that is an unconditional, non-political, personal gift. Now, that's, it's quite an understandable explanation in a way, because politics here, like in many countries

at the moment, is quite a perilous place to be. We have really sadly actually seen a front-line sort of retired conservative and current reform politician actually killed in our home recently. Devin and Cornwall Police said Ms. Whittaker was found at her home with serious injuries. Anne Whittickham was 78 and a major figure in the Conservative governments of the 1990s. She joined Reform UK in 2023. As has MPs been killed in recent years. So it is dangerous and that is one of the reasons he's given. But I'm not sure that entirely passes the sniff test.

He's also given the reasons of it being a reward for Brexit, which, you know, a five million pound reward for sort of a moral crusade as he previously saw it, I don't think went down particularly well. He's also just tried to outright deflect questions, saying it's no, not anyone's business. It's an unconditional gift. I can spend it on Ferraris if I want. That's been entirely up to me. But I just, my listeners want to know, Mr. Fro.

How much has been spent? Nick, I can do with it as I want. I can do what I want with it. I can put up the horses. Yes, you are under review. So yeah, he's pretty, he's been pretty, catchy about all of this. He really isn't enjoying for scrutiny. Is it a mistake not to declare the gifts from George Cotrell, sir?

You tell your bosses, you harass my family anymore. I'll think you'd be serious consequences. He's been Teflon-y before in with these scandals and controversies and deflecting them. Is this stuff sticking? It feels like it's sticking somewhat of a moment. There's been a constant drumbeat of these allegations coming out and being expanded on every week. something doesn't feel quite right to people. And even speaking to those people who do support him in his constituency of Clacton, and yeah, they are a bit skeptical about this and they're not particularly happy about it. I think the problem where it doesn't stick so well is actually

people have, particularly his voters, have a very low opinion of politicians in general. They will typically tell you, well, they're all at it anyway, aren't they? Now, you know, they'll rehearse various arguments against previous labour and conservative politicians, serving ones too. And they may be of different scales and gravity, some of these allegations, but it all kind of adds to a general stench around politics that certain voters feel. I think where it's more dangerous for Nigel Farage is the sort of extra 20% or 10% of the public, whatever it is he needs to actually become prime minister.

I think that more, that a bunch you were more skeptical, of him, but might be minded to support him for a bit of a change. They're the ones that is really risky. So he's chosen to ride out this scandal in a novel way, perhaps. Farage announces he's resigning his seat. Today, I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clacton-C, thereby forcing a by-election, which would happen, I hope, in short order. And then that he's going to run in a by-election to win that seat right back.

He said he wanted to silence his critics face off against the establishment. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment, to frankly tell them where to go. But Sam, how did the so-called establishment respond to this? Yeah, they decided to not turn up to his gambit, essentially. All of the rival mainstream parties took one look at this and fought his grounds for the election weren't really legitimate. I mean, also they'd look at it and say he's bound to win here anyway, almost certainly.

So they didn't really fancy fighting that contest on his grounds, grounds that they would say are phony, and that he should actually just face the scrutiny but being in Parliament affords him. And so without any of the establishment parties running candidates, this by-election has really seemed to take a life of its own, particularly with the candidates who did choose to run against him. And most notably, there's his main opponent. My name's Count Binface, intergalactic space warrior, leader of the recyclons from Planet Sigma 9, and part-time democratic politician on Earth. Yeah, my name's Count Pinface, and I've ended up the race to Blackton's new MP.

Farage is a famously colorful figure, Sam, but can you paint us a picture of Count Binface and this by-election? Yeah, it's pretty farcical, really, isn't it? He, Campton Face really has emerged as the main rival. Britain has like a long history of satirical candidates and joke candidates. Entry to run in any kind of election is pretty low. You just pay a £500 deposit. And, you know, for early fees candidates, it's not the biggest amount of money to lose for a bit of fun and publicity. So BinFace is someone who runs in many, many elections.

If you look at Andy Burnham's by election up in Makerfield, actually, look at the stage that day. Andy Burnham is on the stage, to one side of him is Count Binface, to the other side of him is a man dressed as a fox. Now, that is quite common fodder for high-profile elections, and this one has followed it. But actually, this one has gone far further. This election has the most candidates ever to run in one seat. When voters go to the ballot box on Thursday, they're going to be handed a polling paper, which is nearly a meter long. And they're going to have to, but Nigra Farage's supporters are going to have to scan through all of that in order. to pick out his name, look past these joke candidates, these strange outside figures in order

to find the only likely person who can become MP. So yeah, I think for good reason, a lot of voters around here do reckon it's descended into quite a farce. It's always quite the scene. We don't have this in Canada in Britain. And I love watching election 8 because it's not, in Canada, you don't have every single candidate in that election all up on the same stage. And I do wonder how that might transform politics in Canada, these little by-elections, if that happened. But you're talking to us from Clacton right now. How do voters feel about this whole by-election? Yeah, I think speaking, I've been observing some focus groups.

And the general message I'm picking up on, particularly, you know, even from reform voters and people who are minded to vote Nigel Farge again, is that actually, this seaside town has been made to look a bit of a laughing stock in their words about this. You know, see bin face on the telly. Every time Clacton by-election is mentioned on national telly, broadcasting rules mean they have to read out all 34 candidates. Clacton is now seen in a bit of a joke light. And people are really feeling that.

And I don't think they appreciate it. Even some of his supporters are holding him a bit responsible for this. They'll still vote for him, most of them. But you do wonder whether it's been sowing the seeds of some dissatisfaction for the future. All that said, it's not at all expected that he's going to lose his by-election. So Farage will win, likely on Thursday. Be heading back to Westminster. What happens after that?

Yeah, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner investigation will resume into him. The scrutiny from newspapers and journalists will continue. He will continue to go on a bit of a warpath against his critics and the media. But what it boils down to, I think, is whether the stench of the... sticks with him and what the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner comes back with. It's quite possible that the standards commissioner finds he has committed some kind of wrong by not disclosing these large-scale donations and potentially there's more to come that we don't know about. Yeah. And he has to face another by-election with even more of this behind him. I think that's one worry.

He may well win that one again, but I think it's the bigger worry is how this affects him nationally, whether this starts to dent his national polling and reduce his chances of becoming the next prime minister just as Labor starts to resurge somewhat. Yeah, that's right. Labor is on the upswings. And meanwhile, Farage himself is reaching seems like new lows or recent lows and approval ratings. A recent Ipsos poll says 61% of Brits are dissatisfied with him versus only 23% satisfied. And that lead, like you say, is gone. So after, coming so close to the top of things, do you think Nigel Farage's moment has passed him by?

I think it's far too early to say that. I mean, he's a very wily operator with, sure, a smaller approval rating at the moment, but still a pretty big diehard, sway of the public who will back him come what may. So no, I think he's got a long way to go if he really wants to. And I think there's every indication of that at the moment. So, yeah, I expect him to keep on swinging and, yeah,

taking it to the government. Yeah, I guess three years is a long, a long way before an election so much can happen. But, you know, with Farage, I hear commentators call him the Marmite politician. You know, he's named after that. Salty ye spread in a jar. Either you love it or it revolts you.

And pets up people compare Farage. Can you see someone that polarizing, still one day becoming prime minister, Sam? Yeah, you're right. It is hard to see that. But such are the levels of dissatisfaction in the status quo. here in Britain. It's not impossible. I don't think it's as reckless as people voting,

you know, someone come what may, despite their flaws, but they're looking at the alternatives and they see the Conservatives who they think failed them for some time and created the problem we're in. They look at Labor and at the moment are saying, I don't think they've done enough to turn this around. Then there's the whole global backdrop of terrible economic times, battering us as a country. And you know what? They might just roll the dice and think Farage might just be the sort of for medicine that we need to fix this country. But yeah, you're right. I think, yeah, someone that divisive, it is still hard to see. Sam, thanks so much. We'll talk to you again. Okay, legend. Thank you so much for that.

That's all for today. I'm Jason Markosov. Thanks for listening to Frontburner. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.