Nigel Farage loves a pint of Greene King India Pale Ale but his Brexit Party has reached the point of last orders. Drinking-up time is now so close that the house band can almost be heard striking up a maudlin rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
Opinion polls can tell porkies, of course, but as we enter the final week of this election campaign, all logical signs suggest ritual humiliation for Farage’s merry band of men and women.
The Brexit party’s demise has been coming ever since Boris Johnson returned from Brussels with his Brexit deal. But the coup de grace surely arrived yesterday when four of the party’s MEPs very publicly urged voters to back the Conservatives.
‘And nowww, the end is neeeeearrrr…’
Lance Foreman (left) spoke of his fear that the Brexit party could split the Conservative vote and let in Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semites. Another of the four Brexit Party resignations was Lucy Harris (right)
As I went to hear the Gang of Four make their announcement, I was nearly knocked down by Farage’s tweedy eminence grise, Gawain Towler, despatched, no doubt, on a last-minute reconnaissance mission.
The quartet separately gave a short speeches. Their theme was that what had begun as a crusade to see off Theresa May’s rotten Brexit deal had morphed into the Nigel Farage Show.
Smoked salmon tycoon Lance Foreman spoke of his fear that the Brexit party could split the Conservative vote and let in Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semites. John Longworth, dressed in a raffish bookmaker’s suit, was relaxed and jovial. What irked him most was Farage claiming that he’d been urged into backing Boris in return for a peerage. In fact, all four insisted that nothing – no gongs, quango jobs or even a hoodie used and signed by No 10 svengali Dominic Cummings – had been dangled in front of them.
The third MEP, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, had arrived late. Hellish fog up in Lincolnshire all morning, apparently. No matter, as the most emotive speaker of the foursome, she was well worth the wait.
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, MEP for the East Midlands said the Conservatives were the ‘only option for Brexit supporters and democrats alike’. Alongside Ms Rees-Mogg, John Longworth (pictured), the former British Chambers of Commerce chief, Lance Forman and Lucy Harris have also resigned
La Mogg described Farage as the ‘most formidable campaigner’ she’d ever worked with, but clearly felt let down by him. Speaking slowly, Jacob’s little sister gave the impression of being a trustafarian explaining how she’d been brainwashed by a charismatic cult leader.
I’m convinced she would have made a fine Conservative MP but many years ago her candidacy was stiffed by David Cameron’s modernisers who preposterously suggested she stood as ‘Nancy Mogg’ because Annunziata Rees-Mogg sounded too olde worlde and unelectable.
I worried a tad for the fourth member of the Gang of Four, porcelain beauty Lucy Harris. Had she been blubbing?
She launched into passionate rant about Corbyn and Marxism, voice falling and rising with the emotional pathos of a manquée actress. All a bit OTT, I thought. Still, she’s young so maybe we’ll see her back in the political knockabout one day if she dials down the theatrics a notch.
Nigel Farage today lashed out at Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister for quitting the Brexit Party along with three other MEPs during an interview with Andrew Neil
Later, Farage himself submitted himself the BBC’s equivalent of the Chicago Ribshack Grill. An interview by Andrew Neil.
‘You’re going nowhere. You’re marginalised. Irrelevant,’ Neil barked, pushing his prey to admit defeat.
Au contraire, replied Farage. ‘I think what I’ve done is have a dramatic effect on this election.’ He claimed to be ‘poleaxing the Liberal Democrats’ and ‘tearing chunks out of the Labour vote’.
The old bruiser resolutely withstood Neil’s flame-throwing and refused to wave the white flag. His guppy eyes bulged and blinked with defiance. It was like watching the last Texan standing at the Battle of the Alamo, surrounded by gun-toting Mexican hombres yet insisting he had the enemy where he wanted them.
When Neil raised the treachery of Annunziata et al, Farage gave a dismissive wave of the hand, claiming they were all in hock to the Conservative Party. ‘Annunziata’s brother, Jacob, is in the Cabinet,’ he declared excitedly. ‘What’s that got to do with it?’ scoffed Neil.
Farage’s desperate ripostes were unworthy of man who should be remembered for his key role in the Brexit story. Time for Nigel Farage to look to the future. He and the Brexit Party are history.