Nigel Farage
Cheers! Ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage has been shortlisted for Time's Person of the Year award 2016 Getty

Nigel Farage has been shortlisted for Time magazine's 2016 Person of the Year Award. The former Ukip leader is one of 11 contenders named by the influential US publication, which has presented the award since 1927.

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However, for Farage to walk away with the crown he would have to defeat world leaders such as India's Narendra Modi, Russia's Vladimir Putin and president-elect Donald Trump. He is also up against Beyoncé Knowles and Mark Zuckerberg.

The list, and the final winner, are decided by the editors of Time magazine. They are looking for someone who, "for better or for worse, has done the most to influence the events of the past year".

The Time editors credit Farage with Brexit and the wave of populism that followed: "As head of the UK Independence Party, Farage was a face of the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, positioning the referendum as the start of a global populist wave against the political establishment."

The full list of contenders is:

  • US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles
  • Former First Lady Hillary Clinton, the first woman to receive the US presidential nomination for a major party
  • Russia's CRISPR scientists, who have developed technology that can edit DNA
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
  • Ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage
  • Residents of Flint, Michigan who blew the whistle on lead-poisoned water
  • Singer Beyoncé Knowles
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  • US President-elect Donald Trump
  • Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

Last year's winner was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She was only the fifth woman to win the prize, after the magazine scrapped the original Man of the Year award in 1999 and replaced it with the current Person of the Year. Women could previously be nominated under a separate category called Woman of the Year award.

Should Farage win, he would be the third Briton to be awarded the prize, after Winston Churchill and The Queen. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 7 November.

Nigel Farage Donald Trump Vladimir Putin Beyonce