UKIP leader Nigel Farage stepping down after Brexit success

(Image credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

last updated 5 July 2016

Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, announced Monday he is stepping down.

"During the referendum, I said I wanted my country back... now I want my life back," he said during a press conference. This is the third time he's resigned as UKIP leader, after previously serving from 2006 to 2009 and then from 2010 to 2015; days after stepping down in the aftermath of the 2015 election, Farage decided not to resign after all in order to lead the campaign to leave the EU, The Guardian reports.

Farage did not speculate on who could replace him, but said they would be installed before the fall. "UKIP is in a good position and will continue with my full support to attract a significant vote," he said. "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."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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