The former leader of UKIP Nigel Farage says he is “skint and separated” and that his life is not easy.

Mr Farage, who contested the South Thanet seat at the general election which he lost to Craig Mackinlay in 2015, said in an interview he had lots of expenses to meet.

But he said his attachment to the Kent countryside was among the reasons why he resisted moving abroad.

“There’s no money in politics, particularly doing it the way I’ve done it — 20 years of spending more than you earn. I have big expenses — lots of kids to pay for and things like that.

“My life is not easy. There’s a lot of aggro to deal with. I can’t walk down the street in London on my own. The level of aggression and unpleasantness is constant. I’ll never be able to live a normal life in London.”

He told the Daily Mail he had considered moving to America but that he was “very English” and enjoyed things like walking on the Kent Downs.

“I have thought about the States. Life is easier over there, but I am very English. I like going to watch cricket at Lord’s. I like my walks on the North Downs. So, we’ll just have to see. It’s quite tough.”

‘I’m quite enjoying not being in the front line every day because I was there for quite a long time."

The ex leader of UKIP is now a broadcaster for LBC and as an MEP for the South East is entitled to a standard monthly payment of 7,957 euros (£6,537) - which is roughly equivalent to an MP.

After failing to become an MP in 2015 when he stood in the Kent seat of South Thanet, he quit as party leader but then came back for an interim period when Diane James - also a south east MEP - resigned the job barely two weeks after being elected.

He recently confirmed that he had separated from his wife and no longer lived with her at the family home in Westerham.

He will be entitled to a pension of £73,000 a year when he retires at the age of 63 and that he planned to accept it.

“Of course I would take it. I have said that right from day one. Why should my family and others suffer even more?”