Claim f92f85cbChecked 21 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“Farage lived through all of those experiences.”
Interpreted asidiom
“Farage experienced and survived that lifestyle and its consequences.”
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim that Farage experienced the heavy-drinking City trader lifestyle and survived it (unlike some of his colleagues who died as a consequence) is supported by multiple reputable sources.
**Experienced the lifestyle:** Farage entered the City as a commodities trader in 1982 at the London Metal Exchange. The BBC profile notes his "gregarious, laddish ways" and that he was "frequently photographed in front of a pub, pint in hand." The Independent describes how he "particularly enjoyed the long, alcohol-fuelled 'PFLs' – 'proper fucking lunches'" in the boozy 1980s City environment. The Financial Times' "Lunch with the FT" piece quotes Farage himself reminiscing about drinking port at lunch and returning to work "all crimson." A friend, Godfrey Bloom, told BBC Radio 4's Profile programme: "His lifestyle is appalling, he'd be the first to admit it. He drinks too much red wine and he smokes too much." Farage himself, in the interview under review, candidly describes the drink-saturated City culture and his participation in it, noting that "lots of people who were my drinking mates in the City have been through the most disastrous downward spirals, and a lot of them are dead."
**Survived it:** Farage was alive at the time of the interview (December 2011) and remains so. He explicitly states in the interview, "I lived through all of that… I am lucky." The contrast he draws — that many of his drinking mates died while he survived — is consistent with publicly known facts about the City's heavy-drinking culture and its toll.
Sources:
- BBC News, "The Nigel Farage story," https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36701855
- BBC News, "Profile: Nigel Farage, UKIP leader," https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-20543513
- The Independent, "Nigel Farage: The saloon bar king who helped deliver Brexit," https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/nigel-farage-donald-trump-ukip-reform-uk-herman-van-rompuy-b2555872.html
- Financial Times, "Lunch with the FT: Nigel Farage," https://www.ft.com/content/864c3a96-fbf1-11e5-b5f5-070dca6d0a0d
- City AM, "I'm A Celeb star Nigel Farage had failed London firm before politics," https://www.cityam.com/im-a-celeb-star-nigel-farage-had-city-career-including-failed-brokerage-that-went-insolvent/
From article
I didn’t say that in the book, no.
Listen, drink is an extraordinary thing. It’s very, very deeply embedded within our culture, and when I left school and went into the City – well, everything revolved around it. I’m very honest about the culture. You know, looking back on it now, many people would be repelled by it. And some people who go through that lifestyle are lucky and some are desperately unlucky, and you never know which you’re going to be. Lots of people who were my drinking mates in the City have been through the most disastrous downward spirals, and a lot of them are dead. A lot of them are dead. I lived through all of that and I’m very candid: I say I am lucky. I am lucky.
Sources opened
| [1] | bitebackpublishing.com |
| [2] | books.google.com |
| [3] | ft.com |
| [4] | bbc.com |
| [5] | abebooks.co.uk |
| [6] | independent.co.uk |
| [7] | cityam.com |
| [8] | independent.co.uk |
| [9] | bbc.com |