Claims that Nigel Farage was a racist bully in his school days appear to have left his reputation unscathed among voters, according to a new poll.
A survey by JL Partners for The Independent shows that one in two voters have a negative view of the Reform UK leader, compared to one in three who have a positive view.
However, it indicates that allegations against him dating back to his career at Dulwich College in London in the 1970s have not damaged his overall reputation.
In fact, they suggest his approval rating has improved, albeit by just 1 per cent. Four per cent of voters – one in 25 – say they have turned against Mr Farage as a result of the allegations. By contrast, 5 per cent – one in 20 – say it has changed their opinion of him from negative to positive.
James Johnson of JL Partners compared the findings to polling in America following earlier allegations of personal misconduct against Mr Farage’s right-wing ally, Donald Trump.
The US president’s ratings went up marginally because most people had already formed “hardened” opinions of him and supporters “shrugged” off the allegations as “overly political”, Mr Johnson told The Independent.
Mr Farage could be benefiting from a similar phenomenon, he added.
Asked in the survey if the allegations against Mr Farage had changed their view of him for better or worse, 47 per cent said they already had a negative view of him and it had made no difference.
A total of 28 per cent said the opposite: they already had a positive view and had not changed their minds.
Four per cent said their opinion of Mr Farage had switched from positive to negative; 5 per cent said it had gone from negative to positive. A total of 16 per cent had no view.
More than 20 former pupils of Dulwich College have accused Mr Farage of holding “racist, antisemitic and fascist views” as a pupil.
Chloe Deakin, a former teacher at Dulwich College who tried to stop 17-year-old Mr Farage becoming a school prefect in 1981 because of his “publicly professed racist and neo-fascist” views, has spoken out this week to stand by her actions.
She left the school after her protest was ignored.
“Of course Farage directly abused pupils,” said Ms Deakin. “His was the only name I recall boys mentioning to me.”
Mr Farage’s name had come up in a discussion with a class of 11- and 12-year-olds, she said. “There was something about bullying, and he was being referred to, quite specifically, as a bully.”
Ms Deakin rejected Mr Farage’s claim that his comments at school were no more than “banter”.
She said: “The word ‘banter’ generally carries the sense of a playful, teasing or good-humoured exchange, but there was nothing playful, teasing or good-humoured nor reciprocal about Farage’s attacks, as reported by former pupils who suffered them.”
Mr Farage has claimed the allegations, first reported in The Guardian, are an attempt to “smear” him. While acknowledging he “probably” had “misspoken in my younger days”, he said he had never made remarks in a “malicious or nasty way”.
He has rejected demands to apologise and denied targeting anyone “directly” or with “intent” to hurt.
The Reform leader has hit back, accusing broadcasters who challenged him over the allegations of double standards, maintaining that programmes screened by the BBC during his schooldays in the 1970s would now be deemed racist.
Mr Johnson of JL Partners told The Independent: “Attacks on Nigel Farage’s past do not seem to be landing with the voters. Part of this is because views on Farage are already quite hardened in both directions. But it may also be that voters are simply shrugging at accusations that date back 50 years.
“As for people becoming more positive about him, it reminds me of similar controversies in the US involving Donald Trump.
“The attempts actually marginally improved views of Trump, because voters felt it was an overly political move. Perhaps a similar thing is happening here with Farage.”
JL Partners surveyed 1,562 adults on 13 and 14 December.
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