Nigel Farage deservers a knighthood, says Ukip leader Paul Nuttall
SENIOR Ukip figures formally requested a knighthood for Nigel Farage.
Paul Nuttall has called for Nigel Farage to be given a knighthood
New party leader Paul Nuttall and the three Ukip peers wrote to the Cabinet Office Honours and Appointments Committee, calling for the honour.
Mr Nuttall said last night: “Nigel Farage deserves a knighthood. Without him, there would have been no referendum and no Brexit.”
Government officials dismissed the request, however, suggesting any nomination could only be made through the application process for the general public.
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More than anyone else he provoked the recent referendum on EU membership
Part of the Ukip letter said: “After taking back the Ukip leadership in 2010, he built it into a party which won the last EU elections, and for which 3.8 million people voted in last year’s general election.
“This amounted to 12.6 per cent of the votes cast, or one third of those received by the successful Conservative Party.
“More than anyone else he provoked the recent referendum on EU membership, and his contribution to the result was very substantial.”
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The letter was signed by Mr Nuttall, former Ukip leader Lord Pearson and the party’s two other members in the House of Lords, Lord Stevens of Ludgate and Lord Willoughby de Broke.
Theresa May is understood to have fiercely resisted previous calls for Mr Farage to be given a peerage and is likely to be opposed to a knighthood.
An online petition on the website change.org, also calling for Mr Farage to be knighted, has attracted more than 7,000 signatures since being launched six months ago.
Theresa May is understood to have fiercely resisted previous calls for Mr Farage to be given a peera
An attempt to launch a similar petition on the official Parliament website was rejected because the system does not accept petitions about honours or appointments.
Mr Farage will launch a new nightly political debate show on LBC Radio at 7pm on Monday.