Declaring Brexit ‘victory,’ UKIP’s Farage quits as party leader

United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, a major driving force behind Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, stepped down as leader of his party on Monday.

“I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP,” he told a London press conference. “The victory for the ‘Leave’ side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.”

This was not the first time Farage resigned as the leader of the party, but he said this time it was definite. Farage first quit as party leader in 2009 over party infighting and again in 2015 after failing to become an MP, but on both occasions decided to stay.

He insisted Monday that “I won’t be changing my mind again, I promise you.”

The June 23 referendum for Britain to exit the EU — known by the portmanteau Brexit — passed by 52 percent to 48 percent, shocking the world and sending the British pound plummeting to a 30-year low.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his intention to resign following the move, having unsuccessfully fought against it.

The 52-year-old Farage said that whoever succeeded Cameron as prime minister should be a longtime Brexit campaigner.

Though he stepped down from internal British politics, Farage said he would retain his seat in the European Parliament to scrutinize the negotiations for Britain’s exit from the EU.

“I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time,” he said.

“Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear,” he added.

“If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour party detached from many of its voters, then UKIP’s best days may be yet to come.”

He also offered his services to “other independence movements springing up in other parts of the European Union,” adding he was “certain that you haven’t seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.”