Theresa May will have to rethink her attitude towards Nigel Farage now he’s best buds with President-elect Donald Trump
On-off leader, who has twice backed winning side, persuaded billionaire the Brexit anti-establishment mood would sweep him over line — Trump famously rewards that sort of loyalty
HOW fast the worm turns. On referendum night, Nigel Farage was conceding defeat, the Pound was on its knees and the President of the USA was sending us to the “back of the queue”.
Today, we’re leaving the European Union, the Pound is riding high and Farage is the American President’s best mate.
The on-off Ukip leader is not just the first British politician to meet Trump. As far as I know he is the only non-American on Earth to meet the President-elect.
And he did not just receive the thumbs-up and a grateful handshake from the new leader of the free world. He spent AN HOUR with the most important man on the planet.
To give you an idea what that is worth, a President’s diary is divided into five-minute slots. Even this brief access is beyond the dreams of all but the most important VIPs.
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Top Washington insiders would kill for 15 minutes of such precious face time. A whole hour is gold dust — a huge public show of respect from The Donald to the man who gave us all Brexit.
But for Theresa May — and some of the most fervent Brexiteers — it is a huge headache. She would not give Nigel Farage houseroom, let alone five minutes of her time. So how will she manage relations with the only politician in the land who did not sneer at this “stupid, racist, misogynistic buffoon”?
The PM will have to review her attitude to the Ukip maverick who won four million votes in the 2015 EU elections and forced David Cameron to commit political suicide by promising his doomed referendum.
For while he has won thunderous applause from devoted supporters, the driving force behind Brexit feels bruised and unappreciated by the British political classes.
This Marmite figure failed repeatedly to win a seat in Parliament. He scored no accolades outside his Ukip power base for tapping into the mood of 17.4million Out voters.
There has been no peerage, no official role for the man who singlehandedly pulled the rug from under a contemptuous Brussels elite.
Mr Farage feels deeply wounded by his sniffy critics — including, to be fair, many inside the eurosceptic movement. There may be scores to be settled.
Anyone reading Tim Shipman’s excellent history of the campaign, All Out War, will discover the bid for Brexit was far from harmonious.
There was rancour and recrimination on all sides.
Nigel expected to be front and centre of the campaign. He especially wanted to go head-to-head with David Cameron in the big debate.
Instead he was sidelined, and his group failed even to win the role as official Leave campaign team.
Farage’s views on immigration were seen as a turn-off to the crucial few who held their noses and pushed the Out vote over the line.
But while snubbed at home, the saloon bar hero became a key player in The Donald’s campaign. He coached the candidate before his TV clashes with Hillary Clinton.
He persuaded the billionaire tycoon the Brexit anti-establishment mood would sweep him over the line, too.
Trump famously rewards that sort of loyalty.
Farage wants to be the bridge between the White House and Downing Street — or America’s ambassador to Brussels. “I’d enjoy that,” he says.
Either role would have been unimaginable a week ago — and still is to Downing Street.
Indeed, Trade secretary Liam Fox, a staunch Republican networker and fervent Brexiteer, is already in hot water for opening private lines of communication with Farage.
But anything is possible.
Trump resembles a glider pilot suddenly handed the controls of his own Boeing “T-bird” on take-off. It should be a worry to us all.
The untried and untested 45th American President will need to be handled with care.
To a Government struggling to negotiate trade deals, a White House “suggestion” might seem more like a command.
Nigel Farage has twice backed the winning side against all the odds.
This time he might have scored the jackpot.
The only risk is that while he’s whooping it up in First Class, The Donald might crash the plane.
IT seems everyone from Prince Harry’s new actress girlfriend to the self-obsessed anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller is being hounded on social media.
Palace sweetheart Meghan Markle says she had death threats after her screen character cheated on her boyfriend. “I never knew there were so many emojis with guns and knives,” she says.
Millionaire businesswoman Ms Miller says police have advised her “not to go outside” after winning a court case against Downing Street for trying to leave the EU without a Commons vote. There is a simple answer for all those pampered creatures plagued by social media trolls and weirdos.
Stop looking at social media.