For many cosmopolitan Britons, one of the rare bright spots after the Brexit vote was the supposed disappearance of Nigel Farage from the national spotlight. The then-leader of the hard-right UK Independence Party, who became the inescapable face of the Yes vote to leave Europe, had promised to resign from his post and dedicate himself to a life of activities like fishing.
But no more, it seems. Farage is back and this time on both sides of the Atlantic. He began with an appearance at a Donald Trump rally in Mississippi in August. Then he cropped up in the spin room after the second presidential debate, likening Trump to a “silverback gorilla,” and on election night he chatted away on the BBC as a “Trump advisor.”
Expect to see much more of the oily-tongued former commodities trader in coming months. When asked on Nov.7 if he would take a job in the Trump White House, he suggested himself as a candidate for US ambassador to the EU—though refused to say whether they’d spoken about the matter. Quite how the two men can square their strong anti-immigrant stances with hiring a British citizen for that job, is anyone’s guess.
But he probably has the best relationship with the US president-elect of any British, perhaps European, politician. British members of parliament memorably denounced Trump as a “wazzock” last year, while maverick foreign secretary Boris Johnson quipped, “the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”
Let’s face the horrible truth: Farage is in a prime place to mediate transatlantic relations alongside Donald Trump. Not exactly Reagan-Thatcher, is it?
This post was corrected with Farage’s former occupation.