Farage Says Not Resigning as UKIP Leader Until 2035

UK Independence Party (UKIP) head Nigel Farage said that he had gained wide party’s support and would not allow a handful of people to drive him out of his post.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UK Independence Party (UKIP) head Nigel Farage said Sunday he plans to remain the party’s leader for another 20 years.

Farage attempted to stand down as the UKIP leader after he failed to win the Thanet South seat in the May 7 general election. Despite leader’s criticism by the several senior UKIP members, the party has rejected the resignation and Farage has kept the post.

“Having been through what I’ve been through in the past week, I’ve decided I will name the date when I stand down. I’m looking at about 2035 at the moment,” Farage said in an exclusive interview with The Sun.

The UKIP leader stressed that he had gained wide party’s support and would not allow a handful of people to drive him out of his post.

On Wednesday, UKIP election campaign manager Patrick O’Flynn claimed that Farage had become a “snarling, thin-skinned, aggressive” man who had turned the party into a “personality cult.”

The party’s major donor Stuart Wheeler and the only party's member of parliament Douglas Carswell also criticized Farage.

In the May 7 general election, UKIP received almost four million of votes, but gained only one seat in the House of Commons.