Ukip’s new deal

Nigel Farage is relishing the chance to sow discord in Tory ranks

Nigel Farage looks round with mild disgust at the antiseptic Westminster restaurant in which we’re meant to be having lunch. The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party tilts his head back and sniffs the air theatrically, then whispers, ‘Why don’t we just go to the pub?’

We head off down the street. Farage is in a pinstripe suit with a Ukip golf umbrella under his arm. He puffs on a cigarette, his gait — half-jovial, half-military — straight out of an Ealing comedy. When we get to the pub, he greets his pint of bitter with an enthusiastic cry of ‘First of the week!’ before taking a lip-smacking gulp. One can see why the professional political classes find it so hard to take Nigel Farage seriously.

But they can’t ignore him any more. Ukip are regularly running ahead of the Liberal Democrats.