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The Cult Of Farage: Hero's Welcome In US

UKIP may have had a boost with the release of unexpectedly high immigration figures and a new opinion poll suggests it may win the constituency of South Thanet in the election - but its leader wasn't in the UK to make the most of it.

Nigel Farage was among his fans in the US.

"He's awesome and cool," 20-year-old Alain Robert told Sky News.

Political writer Randy Foreman was even more gushing saying the UKIP leader had all the appeal of James Bond.

"He's absolutely a fantastic politician. We just don't have them here like that in the United States."

Mr Farage's YouTube videos berating European bureaucrats and taking on the might of Westminster have made him something of a cult figure on the right of American politics.

So organisers of the biggest political event of the year for US conservatives, the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside Washington DC, invited him this year instead of a British conservative politician - a break with tradition.

Mr Farage told Sky News he had accepted the offer partly to come and learn from the Americans how to win elections.

"I've learnt and UKIP have learned a tremendous amount from some of these campaigners - from data about constituency mapping. The way they fight campaigns in America is way ahead of where we are in the UK."

Part of the lesson to be learned is Americans' use of data and social media.

But during Mr Farage's visit, a UKIP candidate was reported to have used Facebook to condemn the city of Leicester in the most insulting and racist of terms.

Asked by Sky News for his position on the matter, Mr Farage was forced to distance himself once again from yet another candidate, insisting he had never heard of him and couldn't be expected to know the names and views of all his party's candidates.

Some in UKIP may have wondered about the wisdom of touring the US on the day immigration figures were released and the day before the launch of the party's annual conference in the UK.

Mr Farage said it was too great an honour to turn down.

In the end only a fraction of the 5,000 seat ballroom was filled. Mr Farage left the stage quickly, needing to hightail it to the airport to fly home in time to head for Margate, Kent, where he can expect a smaller venue but will be hoping for a bigger crowd.