Nigel Farage was proclaimed as “the next prime minister of Great Britain” at a huge party overlooking the White House to celebrate the upcoming inauguration of his friend and ally Donald Trump.
The Stars and Stripes Union Jack reception on the rooftop of the Hay Adams hotel on Friday night became a gathering of the glitterati of the US and UK political right, with Maga Republicans rubbing shoulders with Reform UK, senior Conservatives, and Brexiteers.
Organised by the so-called “bad boys of Brexit” Andy Wigmore and Arron Banks, who had initially been blocked from entering the US, along with leading Washington fixer Gerry Gunster, the party became a celebration of Farage (the guest honour) and his eight years of friendship with Mr Trump.
The victory of the incoming president against what many in the room saw as staggering odds was taken as a sign of what could happen in the UK and Europe.
Mr Gunster opened the speeches proclaiming: “I hope when we are next gathered it is not in eight years but to celebrate Nigel Farage becoming the prime minister of Great Britain.” To cheers he suggested that Mr Farage – one of the five Reform MPs – “could put the great back in Britain again”.
Former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant regaled how he had first introduced Mr Trump and Mr Farage when he persuaded “Mr Brexit” to go on the stage at a rally in August 2016.
Mr Farage told the crowd that day “I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me”, and Mr Bryant claimed that it was “the turning point” which ended up with Mr Trump in the White House first time round.
The Reform UK leader likened his “insurgent” party “led by apolitical maverick” to Mr Trump.
“I actually do believe that we will win the next general election,” he said. “I do believe I can become the next prime minister. I hope we do so quickly while Trump is still in office.”
For that to happen the Starmer government would need to collapse before 2028 and well before his five years in office has to come to an end in 2029.
The party began with British Serbian opera singer Nevena Bridgen – former wife to the disgraced ex-Tory MP Andrew Bridgen – singing the British and US national anthems.
Big names from the right of politics came to hobnob about what Monday’s inauguration will mean and plot a right-wing populist future for the West.
At one point Mr Trump’s old alt-right ally Steve Bannon arrived, holding court on the balcony overlooking the White House.
Former prime minister Liz Truss was also in attendance, telling fellow party goers that Mr Trump “will save Western civilisation”. Ms Truss was accompanied by Michael Pack, a right-wing documentarian who has been promoting his film about the ex-PM’s short-lived tenure at No 10.
