Nigel Farage has claimed that he is one of the poorest figures in British politics, despite earning a six-figure sum from his MEP salary and media appearance fees.
The Ukip leader told a Channel 4 programme that he made significant financial sacrifices to pursue a political career and has had to live on “about half what the local headmaster or GP earns”.
“I don’t think I know anyone in politics who is as poor as we are,” Mr Farage claimed in a spin-off of Gogglebox, the Channel 4 reality show about families watching television. “We live in a small semi-detached cottage in the country, and I can barely afford to live there,” he said. “We don’t drive flash cars. We don’t have expensive holidays. We haven’t done for ten years.”
Mr Farage, who has been an MEP for 15 years, receives a salary of around £75,000 as well as travel expenses, a subsistence allowance of €304 (£238) a day when he is in Brussels or Strasbourg, and medical insurance.
In addition to his income from the European Parliament, Mr Farage channels fees for media appearances and lectures through a personal service company called Thorn in the Side Limited which made a profit of £45,488 in 2012/2013, bringing his total annual earnings to more than £100,000.
He has previously held shares in a city trading firm, Farage Limited, which paid out £969,000 in dividends to his brother and he has apologised for “an error” in setting up a trust in the Isle of Man in 2003 in a bid to reduce his family’s inheritance tax bills. He has said he did not avoid or evade any tax.
Mr Farage is driven around the country in a luxury 4×4 paid for out of a £60,000-a-year chauffeur allowance provided by the party since September last year, as revealed by The Times this week. Ukip also covers the cost of a team of bodyguards.
He makes the claim about his financial situation in an interview with Stephanie and Dominic Parker, who are among the regulars onGogglebox.
Steph and Dom Meet Nigel Farage, which will be broadcast later this month, was described by a Channel 4 executive as a “rip-roaring, alcohol-fuelled watch”.
The half-hour special features conversations between the Parkers and Mr Farage at their luxurious bed-and-breakfast in Sandwich, Kent, and at their local pub. Questioned by the couple about his political career, Mr Farage said that he regreted not being able to spend more time with his daughters but that he is comfortable with his financial situation. “I chose a course of action. Money’s not the be-all and end-all in life.”
The Ukip leader tells the couple that his wife, Kirsten Farage, “is no longer paid by the public sector” but is instead paid by the party. However, Raymond Finch, a former aide to Mr Farage who was elected as an MEP last May, is currently employing the leader’s wife as an assistant paid for out of his EU staffing allowance, according to the European Parliament’s website.
Mr Farage insists on the programme that he has no ambitions to become prime minister. “There are two types of people in politics: those that want to be something and those who want to do something. I want to do something.”
He complains that relentless media attention has impacted his family, with journalists staking out his house and his local pub. “The level of media intrusion is the hardest thing,” he says.
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