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After more than 20 years, Nigel Farage is clearing out his office in the European Parliament.
“I’ll miss the drama,” he says, the room dotted with cardboard boxes, Union Jacks, and various knick-knacks on his desk.
But the 55-year-old Englishman says he certainly won’t miss Brussels, home to the many European Union institutions his country is soon to leave – a feat that has been his life’s work.
“There are very few people in life, particularly in politics, that achieve their dream. And in many ways I have,” he says.
So where does his dream go next? More strictly controlled migration, and a geopolitical and trade pivot from the EU to the commonwealth countries of the former British Empire.
It would be a radical shift, close to half of British exports currently land in the EU. But ever-jovial Farage is unfazed.

“I’ll miss being the pantomime villain,” he says of his departure from Brussels. Farage is a man who began his career as a political outsider, and is ending it triumphantly as Mr Brexit personified.
The former financial trader spearheaded the rise of the right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP) from the early 1990s, as one of its founding members.
What will UK be like February 1, the day after Brexit?
He and UKIP sailed apparently unscathed through several scandals about MEPs’ expenses, accusations of racism and sexism, infighting, and Farage’s alleged affairs.
The party won big in the 2015 elections, but Farage resigned as UKIP leader in 2016 after the Brexit referendum delivered the results he so dearly wanted: a majority for “leave”.

He stayed on as a member of EU parliament, a post he first secured in 1999, and remained a regular fixture in British media.
Then, in the run up to last year’s EU polls, Farage founded the Brexit party.
After Friday’s celebrations marking Britain’s official departure at 11pm London time, he’ll retreat from politics, he says.
EU chiefs sign off on Brexit deal, say our ‘friendship will remain’
“Unless Boris Johnson makes a huge mess of it,” he adds.
Farage is no fan of the British prime minister, despite the fact that Johnson is set to make the former UKIP leader’s dreams come true on Friday. Both larger-than-life Eurosceptics, the pair have clashed in the past.
They haven’t spoken any time recently, he says. “Not directly.”

Farage will be watching the next 11 months of negotiations on future relations very closely and by no means plans to retreat from public life.
“I’ll be writing, speaking, commentating, broadcasting,” he explains of his plans for the future.
Can he understand the anxieties of EU citizens living in Britain, worried about what the future brings? “I’ve not met one,” he claims. “Including my wife.” Kirsten Mehr holds a German passport, as do their two children.
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party triumphs in EU elections, as Tories score worst results in decades
As for the EU, he believes Brexit will be “the first brick out of the wall” helping to scale back the European project. Integration should never have gone as far as it did.
“They’re building an empire,” he says, “And people don't want it.
“Does he see a difference between colonisation and joining a political alliance as Britain did in 1973? “The fact is that the EU is the master and we are the servant,” he says.
Brexit is part of a wider shift, Farage argues. “There is a debate going on … Globalism versus nationalism is the crude way of putting it.”
“And I think the nationalist debate is winning,” he says.
Whether other EU member states choose to follow Britain’s lead remains to be seen. Whatever happens, you can be sure Mr Brexit will have something to say.


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Brexit

‘Mr Brexit’ Nigel Farage relinquishes role as Europe’s ‘pantomime villain’

Nigel Farage: ‘I’ll miss being the pantomime villain’. Photo: AP

15 January 2020, France, Strasbourg: Brexit party leader Nigel Farage (centre row, 2nd L) attends a plenary session of the European Parliament, amongst other British members, before losing their mandates on 31 January 2020 when Brexit comes into force. Photo: Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

British European Parliament member Nigel Farage wears socks with the Union flag as he speaks to a journalist during an interview at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. With the Brexit moment set for Friday at midnight Brussels time, UK parliamentarians are packing boxes and removing personal items from their Brussels offices. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman takes a photo of an anti-Brexit sticker which reads, 'Bollocks to Brexit, it's not a done deal', placed on the mailbox of British politician Nigel Farage at the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Nigel Farage: ‘I’ll miss being the pantomime villain’. Photo: DPA

What will UK be like February 1, the day after Brexit?

A EU flag with one of the stars symbolically cut out in front of the Houses of Parliament. Photo: AFP

epa08130398 A view on the clock face of 'Big Ben' in Central London, Britain, 15 January 2020. Brexit campaigners have lead lobbied for the bell inside the tower to chime, for the first time since restoration work has taken place, on 31 January 2020 to mark the UK leaving the European Union. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER

epa08133808 A view of the Port of Dover in Dover, Kent, Britain, 16 January 2020. The UK is on course to leave the European Union on 31st January 2020 with the Port of Dover due to be affected. The Port is geographically Britain's closest port to mainland Europe and manages a large volume of freight and passengers. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER

epaselect epa08145001 The new geographical center of European Union (EU) in Gadheim near Wuerzburg, Germany, 20 January 2020. After Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU), the geographical center of the EU will then be in Gadheim near Wuerzburg. EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeatedly promised to ‘get Brexit done’ on January 31. Photo: AFP

EU chiefs sign off on Brexit deal, say our ‘friendship will remain’

Anti-Brexit activists take part in a protest outside the EU Parliament in Brussels. Photo: Reuters

epa08151829 A handout photo made available by the UK Parliament shows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during Prime Minister Questions at the House of Commons in London, Britain, 22 January 2020. Reports state the MPs rejected all five amendments made by the Lords to the government's Brexit bill. The legislation was sent back to the House of Lords. The legislation will travel between the houses until both houses have agreed on its content. EPA-EFE/JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT HANDOUT MANDATORY CREDIT: UK PARLIAMENT / JESSICA TAYLOR HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (L) and European Council chief Charles Michel. Photo: DPA

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Britain's loudest Eurosceptic Nigel Farage is counting down the hours before his country leaves the European Union
‘Mr Brexit’ is retreating from frontline politics, but plans to make himself heard



Britain's loudest Eurosceptic Nigel Farage is counting down the hours before his country leaves the European Union. ‘Mr Brexit’ is retreating from frontline politics, but plans to make himself heard.


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European Union