When far-right populist-turned TV presenter Nigel Farage made the bombshell announcement, on Monday, that he’d be vying for a seat in the British parliament in the upcoming election, the media had a field day.

Hadn’t Farage, one of the architects of Brexit, announced, just weeks before, that he wouldn’t be running? And this, after a total seven previous tilts at a seat in the House of Commons over the last 30 years. All unsuccessful.

And this was before Farage was splattered with a milkshake, thrown by a protester, on his first day of campaigning.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on why Nigel Farage, though on the fringe of politics, still poses a threat to British society. And the rise of the far-right across the globe.

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