Jake L-D – LVI
Over the last 20 years there have been numerous successful politicians that have had their own influences and impact on UK politics, from vastly different ends of the political spectrum. However, Farage stands ahead of all others. Success in politics is a broad term but the main measures of success can be narrowed down to three criteria. Firstly, significantly influencing major pieces of legislation is one important measure as it describes one of the main aims of politicians which is to affect governmental policy in order to represent their constituents and their opinions themselves. Therefore if they are able to do this, success has undoubtedly been achieved. Furthermore, obtaining or shifting the vote of the electorate as well as properly representing the people is an essential measure of success; if you are unable to obtain the support of voters and represent them effectively then you aren’t a truly successful politician. Finally, one must challenge beliefs and views in the UK and pose alternatives to the status quo. This is a more nuanced point as not all successful politicians have done this, however in the future with so much political, social and economic turmoil, there may be a requirement for alternative more extremist politics. Being able to create room in the electorate for these politics therefore is another measure of great success. These are all things Farage has done to a large extent, more than others, which is why he has been the most successful UK politician over the 21st century.
One should acknowledge that Farage’s success has been matched by many successful politicians over the past 25 years, including the likes of Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn. Blair had a long run as Prime minister from 1997-2007 holding a huge majority in the 2001 General election of 167 seats . This depicts his underlying success in terms of obtaining the vote of the electorate. Furthermore throughout his run as PM he made many effective pieces of legislation, however in 2003 he made a controversial decision to wage war on Iraq. This act of war was not popular with the public due to him not acting in the interests of the whole electorate. This shows his failure in true representation of his voters undermining his success.
Jeremy Corbyn can also be seen as one of the most successful politicians due to his ability to shift the Overton window (a window which describes the range of acceptable parties in UK politics) as a left wing radical whilst maintaining popularity from his supporters. His left wing policies were also much more extreme than traditional Labour views but he was still able to maintain popularity amongst party members. However, Corbyn was unable to successfully influence major policy and was eventually ousted as party leader in 2020. This therefore connotes how he is not truly a successful politician due to his failure of ever actually influencing legislation, the main aim of every politician.
Farage meanwhile, has been able to greatly influence governmental policy, obtain a proportion of the electorate and then represent these people effectively whilst simultaneously shifting the Overton Window and changing UK politics for good. Farage has had consistent views of right wing populist politics with strong beliefs in anti-immigration and independence. Farage founded UKIP in 1993 whilst aiming to influence UK politics right up until the UK 2015 election where he had his first major success. In this success he cornered David Cameron into pledging to have a referendum in his 2015 manifesto to leave the European Union by threatening to take the voters of the right wing end of the conservative party. This referendum was a grave mistake by Cameron and an intelligent piece of politics by Farage. Farage was able to influence Cameron into having this referendum which he ultimately lost thereby leading to his resignation. Despite Farage’s extremely small vote share as UKIP leader he still was able to influence Brexit legislation, representing his voters and his own views of independence to a great extent.
Furthermore Farage’s leadership in 2024 of the Reform UK party led to obtaining a vote share of 14.3% depicting his huge success in obtaining a large proportion of the vote despite it being a right wing populist party which is typically too extreme in modern UK politics. Farage has successfully shifted the Overton window demonstrating how he has been able to provide a more radical alternative that has achieved significant support, another measure of great success.
It is undeniable that Farage has achieved success in every way in UK politics whether that be influencing legislation or successfully representing his voters views. Farage is a contentious figure and his actions of masterminding Brexit are controversial, as all somewhat extremist politicians are, however his skills as a politician are undoubtedly remarkable and there are few figures in UK politics that could challenge him as an orator. Farage will certainly continue to build on this success and potentially be the greatest and most successful politician of all time if he is able to become Prime Minister and continue to legislate and lead at the level of competence he is right now. This is something I have no doubt he will do.