Measured by share of the vote, the third-biggest political force in the UK today is Reform. One in seven voters support a party that includes representatives who praised Hitler as "brilliant" and called black people "jungle bunnies". Reform organisers have had links with fascist organisations. One of the activists helping Farage win Clacton was filmed using the P-word to describe Rishi Sunak, calling Islam a "death cult" and demanding the army "just shoot" refugees. These people and those views have only gained legitimacy in this election.

For years the media has lapped up Farage. For the most part, it has treated him as entertainment rather than a threat. The BBC has put him on comedy panel shows. But the braying, sour admirer of Enoch Powell is a threat - a threat to the millions of ethnic minority people in this country and a threat to British democracy. Reform is not a party, but a limited company majority-owned by one Nigel Paul Farage. His rise has been bankrolled by sugar-daddy businessmen and he now appears well placed to establish himself as the natural magnet for dark money in British politics.