City Research Online

Abstract

In December 2024 a photograph circulated of a cheerful Nigel Farage standing alongside tech oligarch, Elon Musk, and Nick Candy, a British property magnate and incoming treasurer of Reform UK. They posed in front of a painting of a youthful Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the President elect’s HQ. The three men were pictured celebrating Trump’s resounding MAGA electoral victory. Candy told reporters that he would donate a ‘seven figure number to Reform,’ adding, ‘I think this country needs change and I believe the person to make that change is Nigel Farage. I believe that he will be the next Prime Minister of this country. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t 100% believe that he was going to be the next Prime Minister.’ Rumours began circulating that Musk was also willing to bankroll Reform UK, Farage’s latest upstart right wing political party. Nigel Farage had unexpectedly come out of retirement to run for Parliament in the June 2024 UK general election. Finally, becoming an MP after seven failed attempts has provided ‘Mr Brexit’ with a new pulpit to build a MAGA inspired national populist movement. This chapter aligns with the rest of the book by exploring the playbook of performative strategies Farage has used to foster a nationalist populist, ‘people-oriented anti-elite politics’ (DeHanas, 2024, p.1). Our particular interest is the role of the contemporary media in the formation, dissemination and circulation of the ‘spirit’ of nationalist populism (Eatwell and Goodwin, 2018). We explore two strategies that Farage has used to garner public attention and fashion his ‘man of the people’ persona. First, platformed nationalist populism, where Farage, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) used social media to denounce what he characterised as the corrupt, anti-democratic European Union and launch his campaign to re-establish British sovereignty. Second, memetic humour on TikTok and SnapChat to appeal to young audiences and algorithmically elevate his content to maximise visibility and engagement.

Publication Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Media and the Spirit of Populism , available online: https://www.routledge.com/Media-and-the-Spirit-of-Populism/Valaskivi-Sumiala-Tiusanen-Halonen/p/book/9781032971032
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of Sociology & Criminology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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