Purple haze: inside Ukip’s victory party

The self-styled anti-establishment ‘People’s Army’ chose the most expensive hotel in Westminster to announce the professionalisation of their party machine. Nigel Farage’s post-European election press conference was completely stage managed — from the security on the door to the lack of questions from the floor, right down to the moment he was whisked away from the InterContinental Westminster in a blacked out Land Rover with his key donor Paul Sykes. But Ukip were not done yet, Farage presumably just drove round the block a few times because he was soon back sinking a vat of merlot at his victory party — which your correspondent attempted to crashed with various degrees of success. Obviously without an invite, Mr S didn’t receive the dress code. There was a similar theme running through everyone’s outfits. This guy got it: So did he: As did this chap, who will be the next Ukip MEP in East Midlands if Roger Helmer wins the Newark by-election: Depending who you ask it’s either the colour of power or sexual frustration, but it was purple everywhere.