Martyn brown (Image: DX)
Nigel Farage once told me how he was pretty handy at orienteering in his younger days, winning admiration from contemporaries for his boundless stamina and enthusiasm. Those qualities have been on full display this week as Reform UK’s indomitable leader criss-crossed the country while he continued his current quest to navigate a way into Downing Street.
Fresh from a trip to Donald Trump’s swanky Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, last weekend, Farage held political rallies on the Isle of Wight, Basingstoke and Swindon, gave away cheap petrol in Derbyshire, waved off HMS Dragon in Portsmouth and pitched up outside RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
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Nigel Farage has spent the week criss-crossing the country (Image: PHIL HARRIS)
He was also in Westminster for Prime Minister’s Questions and in his Clacton constituency on Friday.
How does he manage it?
Well, he certainly doesn’t carry a compass anymore but it explains why he’s burning through the 17-hour days.
The Express spent the afternoon with him this week, gaining pretty much unfettered access to the man who wants to be our next Prime Minister.
His working days begin at 5am and don’t finish until 10pm.
Even the fabled Farage “proper lunches” have taken a hit – he’s been scoffing cheese and pickle sandwiches and Mars bars – such is the frantic nature of modern day British politics.
He still manages to squeeze in the odd glass of wine though.
Why so many journeys?
May’s crunch local, Welsh and Scottish elections – which Farage describes as our version of the US mid-terms – have certainly got something to do with it.
So has the war in the Middle East and exposing Sir Keir Starmer’s somewhat sluggish response to it.
Nigel Farage visited Swindon to meet supporters (Image: PHIL HARRIS)
But it also feels like we are in General Election campaigning mode too.
Despite everything that’s going on, Farage picked a fight with YouGov this week, accusing the pollster of attempting to downplay Reform’s true popularity in the polls.
YouGov had Reform on 23% as opposed to others that put them on 30%.
Rivals were quick to seize on this, even blaming Tory defector Robert Jenrick for the apparent dip.
One source quipped: “The recent polling is very interesting – the Jenrick effect?
“The milky bar kid isn’t as popular as he thinks.
“With the evident divisions, it will be interesting to see where relations between Bobby J and Farage go.”
What is perfectly clear is the fact that Reform continues to lead all polls and by a healthy margin.
However, Farage isn’t the most popular political leader.
That honour now goes to Kemi Badenoch, despite the Conservative’s languishing in third place.
Nigel Farage Has Swapped Boozy Lunches for 17-Hour Working Days – How Does He Do It?
Nigel Farage has spent much of his political career cultivating an image as an unconventional politician: outspoken, highly visible and often associated with long lunches, socialising and an informal political style.
But the demands placed on the Reform UK leader today are considerably different from those of his earlier political career.
As Reform UK has expanded its presence in British politics, Farage has increasingly portrayed himself as a politician working exceptionally long hours. The suggestion that he has replaced a more leisurely lifestyle with 17-hour working days reflects the transformation of his political responsibilities, as well as the much greater expectations surrounding his leadership of Reform UK.
So how could a political leader maintain such a demanding schedule?
The answer lies partly in the nature of modern political campaigning, where party leaders are expected to combine public appearances, media interviews, internal meetings, constituency work, fundraising, policy development and social-media activity.
For Farage, there is also the additional challenge of building a relatively young political organisation while attempting to establish a nationwide presence.
From political outsider to party leader
Farage’s political career has never followed a conventional route.
He became one of the most recognisable figures associated with the UK Independence Party before helping establish the political movement that eventually became Reform UK. His political profile was built heavily around campaigning on Britain’s relationship with the European Union and later around immigration, taxation, public services and government spending.
For many years, Farage operated primarily as a campaigner and political communicator rather than as a conventional Westminster party leader.
That distinction matters.
A campaigner can spend considerable time travelling, speaking at events and appearing in the media. A party leader also has to deal with organisational responsibilities that are less visible to the public.
Those responsibilities include candidate selection, party administration, local-government organisation, policy discussions and preparation for elections.
The expansion of Reform UK has therefore created a much larger workload.
Why the hours can become so long
A modern party leader’s working day rarely follows the traditional nine-to-five structure.
Farage can begin the day with political briefings and media preparation before moving into interviews with broadcasters or newspapers. The afternoon might involve meetings with party officials, MPs or local councillors, followed by travel to a political event.
Evenings can involve speeches, public meetings, fundraising events or television appearances.
The day may then finish with further preparation for the following morning.
Social media has added another layer.
Political leaders are now expected to respond rapidly to breaking news and communicate directly with supporters. A major political announcement can generate thousands of comments and reactions within minutes, meaning that the political working day does not necessarily end when Parliament or a campaign event finishes.
For a party attempting to expand nationally, this can become particularly demanding.
The changing demands on Reform UK
Reform UK is no longer simply a protest movement operating around a small number of prominent personalities.
The party has won parliamentary representation and has expanded its presence in local government. It has also sought to establish a more permanent political organisation.
That creates new responsibilities for Farage.
The leader has to maintain public visibility while also providing political direction.
He must communicate Reform’s position on issues such as immigration, taxation, public spending, energy policy, housing and the economy. At the same time, the party has to prepare candidates and campaign infrastructure for future elections.
Every additional councillor or parliamentary representative increases the amount of political activity surrounding the organisation.
This helps explain why Farage’s workload could look very different from earlier periods of his career.
Media remains central to his strategy
One of Farage’s most valuable political assets has always been his ability to attract media attention.
Television interviews, radio appearances, newspaper interviews and online broadcasts allow him to communicate with large audiences without having to rely exclusively on traditional political campaigning.
But maintaining that visibility requires preparation.
A short television interview may appear effortless to viewers, yet political leaders normally have to understand the latest figures, anticipate questions and prepare responses before appearing on air.
A controversial announcement can require hours of preparation even if the eventual interview lasts only a few minutes.
Farage’s frequent media presence therefore forms an important part of his working routine.
It also means that his schedule can be unpredictable. Breaking political stories can create additional interviews or require an immediate response from the party.
Travel adds another dimension
British politics is increasingly national in its organisation.
A party leader seeking support across England, Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom cannot remain permanently in Westminster.
Farage has regularly travelled to political meetings, rallies, local events and campaign appearances.
Travel time can turn an ordinary political day into a very long one.
A morning meeting in London followed by an afternoon appearance hundreds of miles away and an evening speech can consume most of a day before administrative work is even considered.
Modern political campaigns also place considerable importance on local visibility.
A leader may therefore spend substantial amounts of time visiting communities where the party hopes to build support.
The role of discipline
The contrast between Farage’s earlier public image and the description of his current schedule is particularly interesting.
For years, his political persona was associated with an informal atmosphere. He was frequently photographed at social events and was known for his enjoyment of traditional British political networking.
But the demands of leadership can require a different routine.
Running a political organisation means that meetings cannot simply be postponed because a leader is tired. Election campaigns have fixed deadlines, parliamentary business operates according to a timetable, and media appearances often have to take place at specific times.
A leader may therefore have considerably less flexibility than an individual politician without organisational responsibilities.
Whether Farage literally works 17 hours every day is difficult to establish independently. Such claims are often descriptions of particularly intense periods rather than a precise daily time record.
Nevertheless, the broader point is easier to understand: leading an expanding political party can involve an exceptionally demanding schedule.
The importance of personal presentation
Political leaders also have to manage how they appear to voters.
Farage has built much of his political identity around accessibility and direct communication. That makes personal appearances particularly important.
He cannot simply delegate every public engagement to other members of Reform UK.
If the party wants to present itself as a distinctive political alternative, its leader’s visibility remains significant.
This can create a cycle in which increased visibility produces more media attention, which creates more invitations, which in turn creates additional demands on the leader’s time.
The same visibility that can benefit a political organisation can therefore also increase the pressure on its leader.
A different political environment
The political environment in which Farage operates has also changed considerably.
The traditional British political system was dominated for decades by Labour and the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats and other parties competing for significant sections of the electorate.
The rise of Reform has introduced another major competitor into that landscape.
That means Farage is not simply promoting himself or a single political issue. He is attempting to lead a party that wants to compete across a broad range of constituencies.
The workload associated with that ambition is inevitably greater than that of a campaign focused on one issue.
Can a 17-hour schedule last?
There is an important distinction between working extremely long hours during an election campaign and maintaining that routine indefinitely.
Political campaigns are famous for exhausting schedules. Leaders can spend weeks travelling, attending meetings, speaking publicly and appearing on television from early morning until late at night.
Outside campaign periods, however, responsibilities can change.
A leader may still work long hours, but the distribution of those hours can be different, with more time spent on policy development, parliamentary work, party management and preparation.
Consequently, the claim that Farage has adopted 17-hour working days should be understood as an indication of workload rather than necessarily a literal timetable for every day of the year.
The wider lesson
Farage’s changing routine illustrates something broader about the development of Reform UK.
A political movement can operate with a relatively informal structure when it is primarily campaigning on a small number of issues. As it gains elected representatives and becomes more deeply involved in local and national politics, organisational demands inevitably increase.
Leadership becomes less about making speeches alone and more about managing people, policy, communications and election machinery.
For Farage, that represents a significant change from the role he occupied during much of his earlier political career.
The image of long lunches and informal political networking belongs to one era of his public life. The image of early starts, late-night meetings, television interviews, campaign travel and organisational work belongs to another.
Whether every working day really stretches to 17 hours is impossible to establish from public claims alone.
What is clear is that the job of leading Reform UK now involves a substantially broader range of responsibilities than simply appearing at rallies or giving interviews.
As the party continues to develop, Farage’s ability to balance public campaigning with the less visible work of party leadership will remain an important part of his political role.
For a politician whose career has always depended heavily on personal energy and visibility, the question may ultimately be not simply how many hours he works, but how long such an intensive routine can be maintained while managing the growing responsibilities of a national political organisation.