The only man who can stop Nigel Farage from sweeping the European elections is Jeremy Corbyn

At a lavish party for Nigel Farage at London’s Ritz Hotel five months after the 2016 referendum, the man himself predicted a “big, seismic shock in British politics” like Donald Trump’s “total revolution” in the US. Farage told the 100 guests – friends, politicians and journalists (including me) – the UK’s problem was “still being run by the career professional political class”. He feared it would block Brexit. With Ukip seen as a basket case, in the margins of the event, his allies discussed launching a new, online-based movement based on Italy’s Five Star. The Brexit Party is now up and running, the cleverest piece of political branding since New Labour. European parliament elections on 23 May offer the perfect opening; coming almost three years after the referendum, they validate Farage’s repeated claims that politicians would betray the public. Ukip, a home for Islamophobes and misogynists who dismiss jokes about rape as “satire”, makes Farage look respectable. Not surprisingly, the opinion polls suggest his new party is on course for a famous victory. His “big seismic shock” is on the cards.