Moribund duopoly's now in Nigel's sights

McCarthy lives on in this nation 70 years later

NIGEL Farage has never held high office, yet he has exerted a far greater influence over the course of Britain's destiny than most Cabinet ministers. It was his vision, perseverance and charisma that turned the distant dream of British independence from the Brussels empire into a practical reality.

But Farage, now leader of the Reform Party, believes he could be on the verge of an even bigger triumph. Speaking this week at the annual political awards ceremony hosted by the centre-right Spectator magazine, which ironically named him Newcomer of the Year, he told his Tory-inclined audience: "We are about to witness a political revolution the likes of which we have not seen since Labour after the First World War", a reference to Labour's disof the placement Liberals in the early 1920s as the main opposition to the Tories.

But is Farage indulging in a flight of fancy? After all, Reform currently has only five MPs and a limited constituency structure, whereas Labour a century ago was part of a mass movement backed by the muscle of the trade unions.