Nigel Farage, often referred to as the “Father of Brexit”, was asked by the BBC about his past controversial statements: In 2014 he named the Russian president as the politician he most admired. “I said I didn’t like him as a person, but I admired him as a political operator because he mastered running Russia,” he explained.
He was asked about a social media post from February 2022 in which he assessed the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “a consequence of the enlargement of the European Union and NATO”. Referring to this, Farage said he had been arguing since the 1990s that the “continuing eastward expansion” of NATO and the EU gave Putin an excuse to “We have provoked this war. However, it is Putin’s fault,” he added.
In the interview, Farage, a key figure in the campaign to leave the EU, accused the ruling Conservative Party of failing to deliver on its Brexit promises. Asked if he stood by his earlier claim that Brexit was a failure, he replied: “No, it’s not a failure, but we failed to do it. It can’t be a failure. We left the EU. We’re now self-governing.” But he added: “Brexit has let down those who voted because they believed immigration would be reduced.”
Reform UK has 15-20% support in recent polls, thanks to which it is approaching and sometimes overtaking the Conservative Party, which is usually in second place. However, with the current majority system, the party can hope for a few seats at most in the House of Commons elections scheduled for July 4.