Nigel Farage, the self-declared “pantomime villain” of
Brexit, is leaving his favorite theater — the European Union's parliament in Strasbourg — this week with a sense of mission accomplished.
![Nigel Farage gets his way, and last laugh: Brexit is coming](https://media.zenfs.com/en/ap.org/0e8680295a2a01fa239ec9dd3e1d527f)
On Jan. 31, the U.K. will be leaving the EU, in a historic loss for the bloc — and a historic gain for the likes of Farage.
The
European Union was still thriving, expanding at the time, and could shrug off a loud and sometimes foul-mouthed
British parliamentarian as just a nuisance about to be swatted aside by the force of history of closer integration.