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Laure Ferrari (born 1979 or 1980[1]) is a French politician who has worked for several right-wing to far-right political organizations and parties, including the French nationalist party Debout la France.
Ferrari was head of the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE), a Eurosceptic think tank, which was accused in 2017 of having illegally diverted public money to the benefits of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).[1] Ferrari was also founding member of "The Mouvement," together with Mischaël Modrikamen and his wife Yasmine Dehaene-Modrikamen,[2] which in 2018 was joined and promoted by Steve Bannon.
Ferrari is the girlfriend of former MEP and UKIP leader Nigel Farage, best known for his successful Brexit campaign. Ferrari's first meeting with Farage was in 2007 when she was working in Strasbourg as a waitress.[3] Ferrari worked for Farage as his EU parliamentary aid and in 2017 stayed at his home in London.[4] Ferrari travelled out to Queensland in Australia to greet Farage on his exit from I'm A Celebrity in 2023, when he finished third in the public vote.[5][6]
Career edit
Laure Ferrari made acquaintance with then leader of UKIP Nigel Farage 2007 in Strasbourg, while working as a waitress, which led her to start a political career. First Farage gave her a job as a parliamentary assistant in charge of environmental issues.[7] Subsequently, she was made director of public relations for the British delegation of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) parliamentary group (2009–2014), which later became the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group.[8] The EFD/EFDD was at the time co-chaired by Nigel Farage and Francesco Speroni. In this context she met Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of the far-right Eurosceptic French party "France Arise" (Debout la France), itself a member of the Alliance for Direct Democracy (ADDE), founded by Ukip.[7] For Debout La France she first worked as a departmental secretary in Bas-Rhin and then as a European affairs delegate in party's national office.[7]
She did not run for a second term, but instead focused on her new role as head of the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe (IDDE), a Eurosceptic think tank, which was accused in 2017 of having illegally diverted public money to the benefits of UKIP. UKIP was under investigation for having received over £400,000 in donations from the think tank prior to the UK General Election and the Brexit referendum.[1]
In January 2017, she was founding member of "The Mouvement / Le Mouvement" together with Mischaël Modrikamen and his wife Yasmine Dehaene-Modrikamen.[2] Although Modrikamen had envisioned the Movement to become and alliance of populist proponents in Europe and abroad, the project did not catch attention until July 2018 when Steve Bannon declared to work on a European alliance of far-right forces.[9]
References edit
- ^ a b c Nigel Farage sharing £4million house with female French politician (Independent, 5 February 2017)
- ^ a b Foundation Deed of The Movement / Le Movement. Belgische Federale Overheidsdiensten. January 9, 2017
- ^ Strick, Katie (2023-11-26). "Inside Nigel Farage's rollercoaster love life". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
- ^ Grew, Tony (2023-12-03). "Farage's cash row aide kips at his place". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
- ^ Deacon, Michael (2023-12-12). "It's time the BBC put Have I Got News for You out of its misery". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ Shaw, Neil (2023-12-09). "Nigel Farage's girlfriend rushed to hospital in Australia". Wales Online. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ a b c Européennes 2014 : Laure Ferrari, tête de liste pour Debout la République Le Journal du Centre. May 6, 2014 (French)
- ^ Who is Laure Ferrari, the French woman living with Nigel Farage? (International Business Times, February 6, 2017)
- ^ Horowitz, Jason. Steve Bannon Is Done Wrecking the American Establishment. Now He Wants to Destroy Europe’s. New York Times. March 9, 2018