Claim 51f521ccChecked 21 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“UKIP started in 1993.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim that UKIP started in 1993 is well-supported by multiple authoritative sources. UKIP's own website states the party was "founded in September 1993." The BBC confirms the party was "founded on 3 September 1993 at the London School of Economics by members of the Anti-Federalist League." Britannica also confirms that "Sked founded UKIP in 1993." The Anti-Federalist League, which preceded UKIP, was founded in November 1991, but UKIP itself was established as a distinct party in 1993. Farage's claim is accurate.
Sources: UKIP official website (https://www.ukip.org/about-UKIP); BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21614073); Encyclopaedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Kingdom-Independence-Party); UKIP history page via Internet Archive (https://web.archive.org/web/20120829052419/www.ukip.org/page/ukip-history)
From article
It would be silly to say that – you could never, ever represent the whole country – and since I was elected to the European Parliament I’ve always said that I’m not going to represent the whole constituency (and remember it’s vast – six million voters), I’m there to represent the people who voted for me and to use that position to try to persuade others that we are actually right.
But the interesting thing about [the UK Independence Party] is that it attracts an incredibly diverse range of people. We pick up what I would call ‘patriotic Old Labour’, we pick up classical liberals who hate the big state and believe in individual freedom and we pick up traditional Tories who believe in the country. And don’t forget that when we started [in 1993], only about six of us in the country believed in this.
Sources opened
| [1] | ukip.org |
| [2] | bbc.co.uk |
| [3] | bbc.com |
| [4] | web.archive.org |
| [5] | britannica.com |