The by-election in Newark in June 2014 was triggered when Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP, stood down after he was exposed for not declaring lobbying money. The Tories held the seat, but lost about 9 per cent of their majority. We, on the other hand, came second with about 26 per cent. Had we been more organised and clever, we could have done much better. So, after Newark, I tasked Raheem [Kassam, a Ukip aide] with planning a trip to the US help us meet campaign experts who worked for both the Democrats and the Republicans.

I am always bombarded with interview requests when I am in the States, so much so that I could fill up my whole time there just doing the media. The interest from Fox News is obvious – I am a right-winger who is taking on the political establishment – but requests came from a broad church of outlets. In the US, of course, they are stuck with two-party politics. Even the Tea Party is a party within the Republican Party. So they were fascinated at the idea of a relatively new party not just existing, but flourishing in the UK.