Nigel Farage – Five things you didn’t know about the Brexit Party leader
NIGEL Farage is now preparing to celebrate Brexit which he has spent years campaigning for.
Here are five things you didn't know about one of the main politicians behind the UK's divorce from the EU.
Five things you didn't know about Nigel Farage
1. He has had a brush with death ... twice!
In his early 20s, Mr Farage was run over by a car in Orpington, Kent, after a night out at the pub.
He sustained severe injuries and was told he may lose his leg.
While in hospital he met his first wife, nurse Grainne Hayes.
Farage also survived a plane crash in 2010 when his light aircraft nose-dived into a field during an election stunt.
4. He didn't go to university
Nigel did not go to university, instead going to work in the City trading commodities at the London Metal Exchange.
5. He lived a 'separate life' with former wife
The dad-of-four married German-born Kirsten Mehr in 1999 after his divorce from his first wife Gráinne Hayes.
The pair share two daughters together.
He apparently splits his time between the Kent family home and his London pad.
But Ms Mehr said in February 2017: “My husband and I have lived separate lives for some years and he moved out of the family home a while ago.
“This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved.”
How old is Nigel Farage and what's his background?
The MEP and former Ukip leader, 55, was born in Kent on April 3, 1964.
He was educated at Dulwich College, a public school in South London.
His City career lasted more than 20 years, even after he was elected to the European Parliament.
Mr Farage was one of the founder members of Ukip in 1993, and became an MEP for the South East region in 1999.
He was re-elected in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
He is one of the assembly's most outspoken members and has regularly clashed with the EU establishment.
Mr Farage was elected leader of Ukip in 2006, stood down in 2009 but returned the following year until 2016.
He declared "independence day" after the UK voted to leave the EU on June 23 that year, then stood down as party leader.
A more recent report in May 2019 said Mr Farage added nearly £400,000 to the company Thorn In The Side Ltd, of which he is the sole director.
The company was recorded to have assets of £548,573 for the year to May 2018, according to files submitted to Companies House.
He pockets around £26,900 a month from the media company.
This is on top of his MEP pre-tax salary of £7,858 a month, or £94,296 a year.
And he is entitled to a pension of £73,000 a year once he retires.
Mr Farage also used to employ his wife Kirsten as a secretary on £27,000 a year until MEPs were banned from paying family members.
She then went to work for another Ukip MEP.
In an interview with the Mail, he said: "There’s no money in politics, particularly doing it the way I’ve done it — 20 years of spending more than you earn.
"I have big expenses — lots of kids to pay for and things like that."
Who is Nigel Farage's wife?
Dad-of-four Mr Farage married German-born Kirsten Mehr in 1999 after his divorce from his first wife Gráinne Hayes.
The pair share two daughters together.
He apparently splits his time between the Kent family home and his London pad.
But Mr Farage’s wife said in February 2017: “My husband and I have lived separate lives for some years and he moved out of the family home a while ago.
“This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved.”
In December 2017 Mr Farage announced he and his wife had separated, saying he's "separated and skint".
On top of this the politician's apparent messy love life saw former aide Annabelle Fuller claim she and Farage had a "decade-long affair"which was hushed up so not to "derail Brexit".
In an interview with the the dad-of-four lamented the price paid by his family for his single minded obsession to pursue Brexit.
He said: "I think I’ve just been pretty obsessed fighting this cause to the detriment of almost everything else.
"For the past ten years, it’s been a seven-day-a-week obsession and everything else has fallen into second place."
His children appeared to be top of that list as he added: "My kids could have had a bit more of me."
The Brexit Party politician revealed his children from two failed relationships have paid the price of the Farage surname as the country clashed over Brexit, adding that the attention they've attracted has been "unfair".
Nigel Farage in his own words
"You can come into Britain from anywhere in the world and get diagnosed with HIV and get the retro-viral drugs that cost up to £25,000 per year per patient.
"What we need to do is to put the NHS there for British people and families" - on Migrants abusing the NHS for HIV drugs
"I said that I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union, you all laughed at me.
"Well I have to say, you're not laughing now" - to MEPs after Brexit victory
"I think they made mistake in doing that" - To Good Morning Britain presenters on the Out Campaign's pledge to return £350m EU funds to the NHS
"We will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired" - Farage on Brexit campaign days after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death.
"Any normal and fair-minded person would have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door" - On immigration
"What it does have to do with is a population that is going through the roof, chiefly because of open-door immigration" - On why it took him six hours to drive to Wales
“If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?” - Defending a colleague who used a racist term for Chinese people
"I think the doctors have got it wrong on smoking" - When a reporter asked him why he was back on the fags
"She is worth far less to the employer when she comes back than when she goes away"; - On women who take maternity leave