To a metal finishing warehouse on the outskirts of Coventry where young forklift operators in craggy overalls hover expectantly, slurping on steaming hot cuppas.
In front sits an audience of predominantly middle-aged men in three-piece tweeds, velvet-collared covert coats and sturdy brogues.
Further forward, the more elderly folk who’ve gathered on this sunny but brisk Friday morning sport handsome fob watches and Colonel Blimp moustaches.
Farage is back. Buzzy, boisterous, still mildly bonkers. But possibly less boozy
Meanwhile, outside, a usually dozy industrial estate is enlivened by angry protesters waving EU flags and chanting pro-migrant slogans.
It could only mean one thing. The Nigel Farage fanfare has rolled into town.
Farage is back. Buzzy, boisterous, still mildly bonkers. But possibly less boozy. Dressed smartly in an oil-blue suit and purple tie, he cut a more slimline figure than the Spitfire ale swigger of old.
He was launching his new political vehicle, the Brexit Party, here in ‘the heart of England’ as he put it, just in time for EU elections which will be held next month should the Prime Minister not have a deal in place by then.
Bouncing on stage, he received a hero’s welcome from the audience of 200. ‘Good on yer, Nigel!’ barked a man behind me.
‘Enough is enough!’ That was the buzz phrase of the day. I lost count of the amount of times Farage uttered this, his voice coarsened and gravelled by umpteen Rothmans.
Best of the bunch by far was Annunziata Rees-Mogg, sister of Jacob, a pleasant, elegant lady albeit with a touch of the Morticia Addams about her
His message: We have been let down by everyone in Westminster. Theresa May. Jeremy Corbyn. Hammond, Osborne, ‘Chuka’s chums’ – a reference to Change UK, the breakaway independent party. Even his former outfit Ukip has gone rotten, he said, descending into a ‘loutish fringe’ obsessed with Islam. ‘Enough is enough!’
His new lot,
