‘I have decided to stand aside as Leader of UKIP. The victory for the ‘Leave’ side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician. UKIP is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then UKIP’s best days may be yet to come.’
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Farage has resigned as Ukip leader: he did the same after failing to win his seat at the 2015 election, before going back on his word. This time around, Farage insisted that the same would not happen and that this was it. No one is expecting that Farage will turn his back on politics for good, though, and he hinted at this during his speech this morning. It’s clear that Farage wanted to take the credit for the Brexit vote and during his speech he tried to position himself as the custodian of monitoring the process by which Britain leaves the EU. In a hint at what might happen if things don’t go Farage’s way , he said: ‘I will be part of the 2020 campaign if we don’t get what we want.’ So does that mean he’ll stand as an MP? Farage didn’t rule anything out, saying that standing as an MP was not the ‘top of his bucket list’. His final word: ‘If they think they’ve seen the back of Ukip, they’ve got a very nasty shock’. At least one Ukip member is delighted by Farage’s resignation, it would seem. Moments after the Ukip leader stepped down, Douglas Carswell tweeted the following:Nigel Farage: I said I want my country back. What I am saying today is ‘I want my life back’ and it begins right now https://t.co/p4yQiBNONP — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 4, 2016
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