New Year Honours List
Traditionally, the New Year Honours list is where notable celebrities, established journalists and broadcasters, campaigners, members of parliament and prominent civic and community volunteers are recognised and honoured for their contributions. Yet, every year since the vote to leave the European Union in 2016, there have been complaints that Nigel Farage, former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), had not been included.
No recognition for UKIP leader
This year, it was Farage himself, with his twitter post being reposted by June Mummery, a former East of England UKIP MEP based in Lowestoft, who has recently complained that Brexit – or at least the version implemented by Johnson’s government – has harmed the British fishing communities like hers.
Given their devoted followers on social media, there clearly are those who would nominate Mr Farage. So, the question becomes ‘what for?’
To quote June Mummery: “he’s the Godfather of Brexit”. But, that does a great disservice to the likes of the late Southend MP Sir Teddy Taylor.
Failed politician
It is fair to say that, as a campaign, UKIP did achieve its goals by forcing the referendum to leave Europe, as a politician. But Nigel Farage’s political achievements remained underwhelming on a day to day basis. He had one of the lowest voting records of any MEP in the European Parliament. It is well documented that when Farage was the UK’s representative on the EU Fisheries committee, he attended only one out of the forty-two committee meetings. In an interview with LBC, he said that he did not attend the committee as it was “pointless”.
As for UK Politics, despite standing in seven elections, he has failed to win a seat in parliament, including failing against the then speaker of the house in 2010, and in South Thanet twice.
Equally, whilst it is impossible not to associate Nigel Farage from the Leave EU campaign, the fact remains that he was not part of the official leave campaign. He made a number of promises before and during the campaign, including on occasion stating that the UK should remain part of the Customs Union. He also disavowed the infamous NHS Bus stunt, and the promise to pay £350m to the NHS.
Lesser journalist and broadcaster
So, he is not a politician in the traditional sense, but equally, he is not really an established broadcaster or journalist either. He did once have a one hour phone in show on LBC, but was forced to leave with immediate effect, after he equated the Black Lives Matter movement with the Taliban. Following a brief hiatus, he joined GB News as an on-air presenter, but he is far from having the gravitas, or journalistic credentials, of Andrew Marr or Nick Ferrari.
Celebrity, or perhaps Social Media Influencer?
Given his near constant fixture in the press, he does fall into the category of celebrity. His videos on YouTube and his posts on Twitter indicate that he is also a bit of a social media influencer. So, even if he is ‘just’ a celebrity, the wider question becomes:
“What has he done?”
Well, in 2020 he was critical on multiple occasions with the Government’s response to Covid-19. In 2021, his most notable contributions were interviewing former President Donald Trump and criticising the Royal National Lifeboat Association (RNLI) for saving lives in the English Channel, leading to a record year of donations. In 2022, he remained a feature of GB News, where his contributions are listed under opinion, along with a number of other, predominantly right-wing commentators. He also complained about immigration, and launched his own brand of Gin.
And what could he still do?
Now, whilst there will be some that feel there is ample reason for the King to reward him with an honour, there remains a lot more that Mr Farage could do.
One opportunity is volunteering in one of the many food-banks in the country that have seen an increase in demand as predicted, in part due to Brexit. He doesn’t have to visit the one in London, so may be a good place to start perhaps, would be the one in Lowestoft in the Suffolk town that was once one of the UK’s major sea-fishing ports. He wouldn’t have to volunteer every day, not even once a week, just more than once. Perhaps forty-two times may be a good target.
