Background and career
George Thomas Stahel Farmer (born 5 July 1990) is a British and American entrepreneur and businessman. He is the former chairman of Turning Point UK and the former CEO of Parler and Parlement Technologies. He is the son of Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer, as well as the husband of American political commentator Candace Owens.
Farmer was born on 5 July 1990 in London, United Kingdom, to Michael Farmer and Jennifer Potts. His father became a life peer when he was appointed to the British House of Lords in 2014. As his son, this gives Farmer the title of The Honourable. Farmer attended St Paul's School, London. He then attended St Peter's College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in theology. While there, he was a member of the Bullingdon Club.
In February 2019, Farmer became chairman of Turning Point UK, the British offshoot of Turning Point USA, a right-wing advocacy group for educational institutions. His then-fiancée and now wife, Candace Owens, was communications director for Turning Point USA at this time. He continued to be chairman until April.
Farmer took over as CEO of Parler, an American social networking service, and its parent company Parlement Technologies, in May 2021. Prior to his tenure as CEO, Parler was allegedly used as a means for organising the January 6 United States Capitol attack, building a perception that it had a lack of moderation for violent speech. This led it to be removed from major app stores. Also during Farmer's tenure, Kanye West tried to take over the social networking service. Farmer said of the proposed acquisition:
Ye's acquiring of Parler will strengthen our ability to create an uncancelable ecosystem [...] Parler will remain a place where everyone can think, listen, and speak freely. We will continue the fight against censorship, cancel culture, and authoritarianism. The deal later fell apart. In April 2023, it was announced that Farmer would step down from his role as CEO.
At the 2019 European Parliament election he stood for the Brexit Party in the South East England constituency. He was not elected. Farmer was a research analyst at the London-based market research firm Jigsaw Research. He also founded the Red Kite Group. As of 2023, Farmer is a board member of GB News. In 2024, he attempted to buy the Catholic Herald.
