Farage denies claims of racism at school - but his response may shape his future

For more than 30 years, Nigel Farage has been one of the most disruptive figures in British politics, known for building a brand on outrage and polarisation.

- Daniel Boffey and Phoebe Weston

He presents himself as the everyman, cigarette hanging out of his mouth or a pint in hand.

But, as polls suggest he is a contender to be the UK’s next prime minister, more than a dozen of his school contemporaries have alleged to the Guardian that Farage exhibited deeply offensive behaviour throughout his teenage years.

Claims of racism against Farage as a schoolboy resurfaced in September after the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, claimed in a BBC interview that Farage had “once flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger”, but later clarified that Farage had denied these claims.

Lammy was referring to claims first aired over a decade ago. Chloe Deakin, formerly an English teacher at Dulwich College in south London, which Farage attended, said some members of staff had described the young man as a “fascist”. At the time, Farage admitted saying “some ridiculous things ... not necessarily racist things ... it depends on how you define it”.