法拉奇：政治精英的“克星”

Nigel Farage, Eurosceptic scourge of “the political elite”, ended a remarkable 2016 appearing in the most potent and ironic picture of the year: smiling alongside a victorious Donald Trump outside the gold doors of the president-elect’s New York apartment.

“政治精英”的克星、疑歐派人士奈杰爾•法拉奇(Nigel Farage)用一張今年最有影響力、也最具諷刺意味的照片，為不尋常的2016年畫上了句號。在這張照片上，他笑著站在贏得了美國大選的唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)旁邊，身后是這位當選總統(tǒng)紐約住宅的金色大門。

Everything about the former UK Independence party leader is improbable: the man who led the Brexit revolt that shook the British establishment is a pinstriped former City trader who has spent much of his adult life trying (and failing) to get elected to parliament.

關于這位英國前獨立黨(UKIP)領導人的一切都令人難以置信：這位領導了英國退歐運動、震動英國建制派的男人，是一個穿著細條紋西服的前倫敦金融城交易員，他把成年后的大量時間都用于競選英國議員，但未獲成功。

Yet Mr Farage will be remembered as a truly important historical figure. He took Ukip, a ragtag party once described by David Cameron, the former prime minister, as being full of “fruitcakes and loonies”, and turned it into a real political movement.

然而，法拉奇將被銘記為真正重要的歷史人物。他接手了英國獨立黨，并將這個一度被前首相戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)描述為盡是“怪物和瘋子”的下等政黨，改造為真正的政治運動團體。

Mr Cameron only offered the year’s EU referendum because Mr Farage was breathing down his neck. The Ukip leader then laid the ground for the Brexit victory by ruthlessly putting immigration at the top of the campaign agenda.

卡梅倫當初完全是因為法拉奇步步緊逼，才同意讓英國在今年舉行退歐公投。法拉奇隨后通過毫不留情地將移民問題置于退歐運動議程之首，為退歐運動的成功奠定了基礎。

Mr Farage became the face of a populist movement sweeping Europe before he was co-opted by Mr Trump, who told cheering rallies that he would “do a Brexit” and seize the keys to the White House.

在得到特朗普欣賞之前，法拉奇已經是一場橫掃歐洲的民粹主義運動的代言人。特朗普曾告訴歡呼的人群，他將“來一場英國退歐運動”，并拿走白宮的鑰匙。

Leading Britain out of the EU already qualifies Mr Farage as a politician of huge significance. If Brexit leads to the unravelling of the EU project, historians will regard him as the catalyst and his role in the events of 2016 as a defining moment.

領導英國退出歐盟已經讓法拉奇有資格被稱為舉足輕重的政客。如果英國退歐導致歐盟項目瓦解，歷史學家們會將他視為促成這一過程的人，并將他在2016年各項事件中扮演的角色視為一個決定性時刻。

The writer is the FT’s political editor

本文作者是英國《金融時報》政治編輯