Photograph — darkroom.baltimoresun.com

“I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self-governing. I have never been and I have never wanted to be a career politician.” – Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage has decided to step aside as leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) as the victory for the Leave side in the referendum that took place two weeks ago meant that his political ambition has been achieved.

When Farage started UKIP in 1993, he had his mind set on one thing, getting Britain to leave the EU. For the most part of his life as a politician, he has championed the course for an independent UK, calling for a referendum and an end to immigration for decades.

Yesterday at a press conference, the 52-year-old said that he was stepping down because, well, he’d achieved his objectives. “My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I’ve done my bit, that I couldn’t possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum,” the former leader of UKIP said yesterday.

 “So I feel it’s right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP. I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time.

I’m also very keen to help the independence movements that are springing up in other parts of the European Union, because I’m certain of one thing – you haven’t seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

It has been a huge chunk of my life, doing this, and it’s not easy perhaps when you feel a degree of ownership of something to let it go. But has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me. During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I’m saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.”

Farage’s decision to quit has stirred a lot of backlash from critics. Some have described him as a rat jumping off a sinking ship, while others have called him a ‘mugger fleeing a crime scene.’ The frustration of the people is clear. For a man who passionately agitated for the UK to quit the EU, one would expect that he continues to steer the ship and follow through with post-BREXIT plans. But it appears Nigel Farage, a man that can aptly be described as the face of BREXIT, didn’t have any plan for post-BREXIT.

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