A Politician’s Secret Power: He’ll Say Anything for $95

BY JAMES HOOKWAY

Britain’s Nigel Farage has surged in polls, partly by selling cringey video greetings

BROXBURN, Scotland— There is something discomfiting about watching Rudy Giuliani perform “I’m a Little Teapot” on camera for a few hundred dollars. Or George Santos, the disgraced congressman, filming wry videos on demand to mark birthdays or provide pep talks.

But British politician Nigel Farage hasn’t just mastered the business of selling short video greetings on the Cameo website. He has turned it into one of the main planks in his campaign to become the U.K.’s

next prime minister.

“Well, a very happy wedding day to the simp Leon, an incel no more,” he said in one. “Hope all those beans you’ve been eating don’t interrupt the big day, that would after all be a bit cringe.”

In another, he offers greetings to Daniella, whose boyfriend says she has been acting “very skibbidy lately” and could use a confidence boost.

It is debatable whether Farage, 61, understands everything he’s saying. Cameo lets people pay celebrities to send personalized messages to their friends and family. Farage reads pretty much whatever he is asked for $95 a pop, earning him at least $180,000 last year, more than his base salary as a member of the British parliament.

Occasionally he misfires. In one video, Farage offered congratulations to a “Hugh Janus,” like in a prank call from “The Simpsons.” In another he followed a request to say “Up the Ra!” a reference to the Irish Republican Army.

More often he ends up reading long chains of British slang or speculating on the arrival of “Big Chungus,” a mysterious messiah figure from the gaming world who resembles an overweight Bugs Bunny.

In doing so he has won over a legion of young fans who could prove pivotal as he tries to pull Britain sharply to the right on issues ranging from immigration to law and order.

“It got me engaged with a younger audience,” Farage said during a campaign stop in this old mining town in central Scotland.

His Cameo career began during the Covid lockdowns after losing his job as a radio host over remarks he made about the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Somebody reached out and said, have you thought about Cameo? So I thought, alright, I’ll give it a go,” Farage said. “It’s been a massive success. It’s 18 to 20 years olds saying, ‘My dad is 60 today, can you tell him he’s a silly old sod,’ or things like that, and now it has bled over to TikTok.”

He’s still going strong, offering a 24-hour turnaround and earning a flurry of fivestar reviews. “Excellent, exactly what I wanted,” read one. “Called my friend a ginger knob,” went another.

Best of all, Farage said, the videos are creating a growing online presence, “and they’re paying me to do it!”

Many of the teenagers milling about at lunchtime in Broxburn were well aware of who Farage is.

“Not sure I’d vote for him but it’s hilarious how he’ll just say anything,” said Stephen McManus, 18.

“Oh aye, he’s a pure legend. His TikToks are great,” agreed Stewart Wilson, also 18.

Other politicians have experimented with Cameos to revive their careers or make some extra money. Santos, who charges as much as $500, began hiring himself out on the platform after he was expelled from Congress following a series of finance scandals.

“Josh, George Santos here,” he said in one video. “Look, Evan can only have four groomsmen in the wedding. He loves you, it’s nothing personal, it’s just how it worked out.”

Another former congressman, Matt Gaetz, will deliver anything from birthday greetings to advice on fantasy football leagues for $149 a go. “It’s not the early 2000s any more, don’t go too early on the running backs,” he advised someone named Jeff.

Then there’s Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and his teapot routine. “Here is my handle, here is my spout…,” he said in what looked remarkably like a hostage video.

Stephanie Alice Baker, a professor at City St. George’s, the University of London, says Farage is different. By keeping his price down and using lots of gaming slang, like calling people “suss,” he is explicitly appealing to a younger crowd. “He may have stumbled across Cameo by accident, but whoever has put it on TikTok is someone who is strategically helping him,” Baker said. “He really is playing the long game.”

Baker said Farage and his team have created a community around Big Chungus, the figure from the gaming world, with the central theme being that only Farage knows what it’s all about.

In one of his videos he said he had an important announcement on the topic.

“I’ve been getting loads of comments from you guys asking if I am Big Chungus,” he said. “I know who he is and at some point in the future, I’ll let you know.”

Farage declined to elaborate to the Journal on who or what Big Chungus is and when he might appear. “Oh no!” he said. “That would ruin it!”