Nigel Farage’s wife confirmed today she and her husband have led “separate lives” for years.
Kirsten Farage said the former Ukip leader moved out of their family home in Kent “a while ago”.
It was reported earlier today that Farage was sharing his London house with a French politician who heads a think tank at the centre of an investigation into the alleged illegal funding of Ukip.
In a statement today, Mrs Farage said: “My husband and I have lived separate lives for some years and he moved out of the family home a while ago.
“This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved.”
The couple married in 1999 after Farage’s divorce from his first wife. They have two children together.
A Sunday newspaper reported this weekend that Laure Ferrari - who runs the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE) - had been living in the former Ukip leader’s house in Chelsea for the past week.
“This is a situation that suits everyone and is not news to any of the people involved”
- Kirsten Farage
Farage told the paper that he was helping Ferrari out because she needed accommodation and had nowhere else to stay. The Sun reported Farage left the house without his wedding ring.
But last November the Electoral Commission announced it was opening an investigation into whether Ukip had accepted “impermissible donations” from IDDE and the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE), the political party it is affiliated to.
It followed an audit by the European Parliament which concluded that ADDE and IDDE used EU grant funding for the benefit of Ukip in breach of its rules.The claims have been strongly contested by Ukip.
Ferrari, who first became involved in politics as a result of a chance meeting with Farage 10 years ago while she was working as a waitress in Strasbourg, said she had been forced to move out of her own flat after the European Parliament stopped IDDE’s funding.
“I have no trustworthy friends in London who could have hosted me. I asked and he accepted. He is just trying to be helpful,” she told The Mail on Sunday.