Claim 98857bacChecked 21 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“Nigel Farage has not given up all his hobbies merely because he wants to be a politician.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
Based on research, the claim is straightforward and well-supported by public evidence. Multiple reputable sources confirm that Nigel Farage maintained several hobbies throughout his political career, including around the time of this December 2011 interview.
**Shore fishing** — A BBC profile from 2015 describes how Farage goes shore fishing at night on the Kent coast as "his way of staying sane amid the relentless pressures of modern politics." He told the BBC: "One thing I can fit in to my working life is shore fishing because I can do it at night."
**WW1 battlefield tours** — The same BBC profile and an earlier BBC profile (2006) confirm his long-standing passion for visiting Great War battlefields with a group of friends called "Farage's Foragers," a hobby he had pursued for over 30 years.
**Cricket and other interests** — His wife Kirsten told The Scotsman that he "loves fishing, he loves walking" and enjoys watching Dad's Army. While she noted he "used to play a lot of golf but that was before Ukip" and "now he hasn't got time for it," this actually supports the claim's nuance: he gave up *some* hobbies (golf) but not *all* of them. The BBC's 2015 factfile lists his pastimes as "Shore fishing, WW1 battlefield tours, Dad's Army, cricket, red wine."
The claim is that he has *not given up all* his hobbies — not that he has given up none. Public evidence confirms he maintained several active hobbies while serving as a politician and UKIP leader. The claim is accurate.
Sources:
- BBC News, "The Nigel Farage story" — https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36701855
- BBC News, "Leader profile: 24 hours with Nigel Farage" — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31771963
- BBC News, "Profile: Nigel Farage, UKIP leader" — https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-20543513
- BBC News, "Profile: Nigel Farage" (2006) — http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5338364.stm
- The Scotsman, "Farage 'not a racist' but drinks too much says wife" — https://www.scotsman.com/news/uk-news/farage-not-a-racist-but-drinks-too-much-says-wife-1535808
From article
I haven’t given up a successful career, I haven’t given up all my free time, I haven’t given up all my hobbies just because I want to be a politician. I’m in this out of conviction
The problem with that line of thinking is that, however rotten and bad we may view our political class at any given time, as long as we have a parliamentary democracy we have the power to change it, because we have the power to sack everybody and bring in new people with fresh political ideas. What you cannot do in this European system is change anything, because it’s the civil servants – the Commission – that have the power.
I often joke that we should fight for the birthright to mismanage our own country rather than be mismanaged by somebody else. Having the ability to change our own destiny is very, very important. If you think about it, it’s the essence of parliamentary democracy.
Sources opened
| [1] | bbc.com |
| [2] | bbc.com |
| [3] | gazette-news.co.uk |
| [4] | news.bbc.co.uk |
| [5] | telegraph.co.uk |
| [6] | bbc.co.uk |
| [7] | scotsman.com |