LONDON--The leader of Britain's insurgent right-wing populist UK Independence Party said on Monday he was stepping down after realising his ambition to win a vote for Britain to leave the EU, punching another hole in the country's chaotic politics.
The departure of brash former commodities trader Nigel Farage would sideline one of the most outspoken and effective anti-EU
campaigners from the debate about how to sever Britain's ties with the other 27 countries in the bloc. But it could also give his UKIP party - which won just a single seat in parliament last year despite placing a strong third - an opportunity to select a less-polarising figure and take on the mainstream in what is likely to be a radically altered political environment.
Both of Britain's two main political parties are in disarray following the vote to leave the EU, with the ruling Conservatives seeking a replacement for Prime Minister David Cameron and lawmakers from the main opposition Labour Party voting to withdraw confidence leader Jeremy Corbyn.
"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," Farage told reporters. "During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back,' and it begins right now."
The acrimonious leadership battles in the main political parties have added to uncertainty at a time when Britain is embarking on its biggest constitutional change since the dissolution of its empire in the decades after World War Two. The government, which failed to convince voters that a Leave vote would cause economic harm, is now racing to reduce the damage.
