Nigel Farage aide claims she had DECADE-long affair with ex-Ukip chief – and was hushed up so it wouldn’t ‘derail Brexit’
Farage has neither denied nor admitted Annabelle Fuller's claims, but she was named as his 'former mistress' in a 2014 speech by ex-Ukip MEP Nikki Sinclaire
A FORMER aide to Nigel Farage has claimed they had a "decade-long affair", which was hushed up so it wouldn't "derail Brexit".
Annabelle Fuller was publicly accused of sleeping with the ex-Ukip leader in 2014 after Nikki Sinclaire, a former MEP for the party, branded her his “former mistress” in a speech.
Fuller said she had been sleeping with Farage - more than 17 years her senior - from 2005 until October last year.
The ex-aide told the the tryst drove her to self harm and suicide attempts and caused her to suffer from PTSD and depression.
She said: "Right from the beginning, lying about the affair was a strategy we decided on.
"We had many conversations about it, even in the past couple of years. He told me I had to keep quiet. I said to him, 'Do you have any idea how painful it is for me?', and he would say 'Yes'."
Issuing a statement in response to the claims, Farage said: "At the time of Ms Fuller's employment the party did not know there was a history of mental illness and other serious personal issues.
"I always tried to help her, recognising that she had ability, and prevented her from being fired on several occasions."
Fuller, who claims she first slept with Farage while campaigning in Thanet South in April 2005, said she was told to keep the relationship quiet in case it had an effect on Ukip's Brexit crusade.
She explained: "Nigel and I both knew we had to keep quiet to save Brexit. We are both liars and hypocrites but the reason I had to lie throughout the years was that I didn't want Ukip or the cause we were fighting for to be damaged.
"He said, 'They will use anything they can to stop this, they will use anything they can to stop me. We are going up against the establishment here. They will come after you'."
Fuller began working for Farage after completing a Master's degree in international relations aged 23.
She claims their affair ended last year after they slept together in Strasbourg - leading to Fuller attempted suicide in a ladies' toilet of the European Parliament the next day.
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