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How a British Tea Party Is Rocking the U.K.'s Political Establishment

Britain's general election isn't until May 7, but Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, has in one sense already won. Riding an anti-immigration, anti-European Union tide, Farage has forced mainstream parties to move closer to some UKIP policies.

Britain's general election isn't until May 7, but Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, has in one sense already won. Riding an anti-immigration, anti-European Union tide, Farage has forced mainstream parties to move closer to some UKIP policies.

Will Sanders/Bloomberg Markets
Stephanie Baker
Updated on
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On a rainy Friday night in the middle of January, Nigel Farage stands in front of a small crowd at the local soccer team’s clubhouse in Ramsgate, a decaying port town in Kent County on England’s south coast.

The leader of the U.K. Independence Party is there to kick off his campaign for a seat in the British Parliament in the May 7 general election, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its April issue. Alongside a purple and yellow “Join the People’s Army” UKIP banner, Farage delivers a jokey, self-deprecating speech laced with acid allusions to what he sees as the great twin threats to British culture and the economy: immigration and the European Union.