It's time we took Nigel Farage more seriously than he seems to take himself

Does it matter that Ukip only has one policy? Probably not its leader is the man of the moment

All my life I have been watching out warily for a first glimpse of what Americans call "the man on the white horse", the self-appointed saviour of his country with a simplistic line of plausible patter which usually ends up with a lot of dead voters. Watching Nigel Farage enjoying his overnight success in the local elections I realise I was wrong, but only slightly.

Farage isn't on a white horse, he's in the White Horse, propping up the bar, ordering another round and probably saying: "Have one for yourself, squire" to the barman because the European taxpayer may be picking up the bill. We all know Nigel in our pubs, clubs and wine bars. It's one of his strengths: he's a type, the boisterous kind that bangs on about how "it's the government's fault" until someone manages to change the subject.

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