Margate, United Kingdom - Nigel Farage turned the UK Independence Party (UKIP) into a national force and helped it win millions of votes but his anti-EU drive was stopped short on Friday in its bid to scale the walls of Westminster.
Farage himself failed to win a seat in parliament in Thursday's general election and his party, which also campaigned against austerity and mass immigration, only managed to secure one House of Commons spot.
The 51-year-old Farage, who suffered from back trouble during the campaign, stuck to his pre-election promise that he would quit if he lost his Commons bid and announced his resignation on Friday.
"I feel an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders," he said at a count centre in Margate in the Thanet South constituency where he was standing.
Farage complained that his party's poor performance showed up the deficiencies of the electoral system, which grants seats only by individual constituencies and does not take into account total votes cast.
"I think the time has come for real genuine radical political reform," he said.
Rarely photographed without a pint of beer, the charismatic Farage reminds UKIP's base of older, white, blue collar voters of a bygone era when the economy felt stronger, immigration was lower and Britain was great.
Anti-Brussels and anti-political correctness, Farage, who once compared ex-European Council president Herman Van Rompuy to a "damp rag", led UKIP to top the polls in last year's European Parliament elections.
Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed the party of "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists" but the Conservatives clearly identified them as a threat.
Plain-speaking and populist, Farage was expected to triumph in the televised leaders' debates, but failed to shine, often cutting an isolated figure.
Farage has admitted he struggled at the start of the campaign, saying his health was hit by trying to do too many things.
He survived a plane crash while campaigning in the 2010 election and said he had been suffering back pain as he hit the campaign trail.
AFP
