Nigel Farage remains UKIP leader after the party rejects his resignation
Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up.
Love him or hate him, you’ll be seeing even more of Nigel Farage in the near future.
On 8th May Nigel Farage offered his resignation to the United Kingdom Independence Party’s National Executive Committee (UKIP’s ruling board), which was rejected on 11th May. Many believe this bizarre scenario, which saw the deputy leader of UKIP, Suzanne Evans, act as interim leader for a long weekend, will only bolster support for Nigel. He is even being heralded as the new Messiah - on the third (or fourth) day he rose again...
The party board judged that, given the EU referendum that Prime Minster Cameron has promised to put to the British electorate before 2017, it would be damaging to lose their 'start player’ just as the campaign to exit the EU begins.
UKIP was founded in 1993 with the primary objective of securing the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, but has fleshed out in recent years as more than just a pressure group, with a self-described “democratic, right-wing” policy platform.
Farage’s continued support by the party faithful only serves to support the idea that UKIP is a “one man band.”
Some UKIP History
Mr. Farage has been an MEP for South East England since 1999, after leaving the Conservative party in 1994.
Farage first became UKIP leader in September 2006, and led the party to win a higher proportion of the popular vote than Labour or the Liberal Democrats.
He stepped down from the party leadership in November 2009 to focus on contesting the Buckingham constituency at the 2010 general election, coming third.
In November 2010, Farage won the UKIP leadership contest and has enjoyed great popularity with the public since then, by siphoning votes away from the major parties while winning over people who previously never voted.
The UKIP policy platform includes leaving the EU and “taking back control of our borders", cutting foreign aid, introducing an Australian-style points-based immigration system, scrapping HS2, raising the personal tax allowance and abolishing inheritance tax.
Despite 3.8 million votes (12.6%) being cast for the party in 2015, representing a fourfold increase from 2010 (3.1%), UKIP only won one seat in the House of Commons.
