Nigel Farage is the leader and a founding member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). In the 2015 UK general election, the UK Independence Party came in third with thirteen percent of the popular vote or 3.8 million ballots cast.

Mr. Farage was recently named “Briton of the Year” by The Times and ranked first in the Daily Telegraph’s Top 100 most influential right-wing politicians.

Since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament for South East England. From 2004 to 2009 he served as President of the Independence and Democracy Group in the EU, and from 2009 to the present, he has been serving as President of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group in the EU.

Under Farage’s leadership, UKIP secured nearly 17 percent support in the 2009 European Parliament elections, won 13 of the United Kingdom’s 72 seats, and narrowly pushed the Labour Party into third place. UKIP won more than 160 council seats in local elections in May 2014.

Those elections were held concurrently with polls for the European Parliament. Fulfilling a goal set by Farage, UKIP rode a wave of Euroskeptic sentiment to a historic first-place finish. The party captured more than 27 percent of the popular vote, resulting in 24 seats. That result marked the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won a national election.

“We’ve sent out a message to the world that anyone can come. That is why they’re coming.”