Nigel Farage is one of the most influential politicians of our time.
Quite an achievement for a man who tried to become an MP seven times but never made it into the parliament.
Without him, would Britain have left the European Union? Would the British people have had a say in EU membership? Probably not.
You may or may not really love him.
Nigel Farage has made it his life’s work to confuse, delight, dismay and frighten, but he doesn’t think he’s done yet.
We reporters squeezed into a second-floor room at the Royal Cinque Port Yacht Club, overlooking the English Channel.
He has already announced that he will not seek a seat in this election, leading a Sun reporter to mock him as a coward.
He argued that, having suffered more than six defeats, there was little chance of success unless he worked in the constituency for months in advance.
That would tie him geographically to the area of his choosing for much of the campaign, which is why I think what he says now is more important than what he said last week.
It’s at least arguable that he has a better chance of making a big impact in this election by trying to make a mark on the national stage than by digging narrow, and likely unsuccessful, personal trenches in any particular constituency.
And breaking out onto the national stage is exactly what he plans to do.
Mr Farage’s choice of Dover as the setting was deliberate.
Immigration, a topic that has fuelled the debate over Britain’s departure from the EU and arguably transformed relatively niche questions about sovereignty and governance into a mainstream concern, is once again at the centre of his argument.
It is no wonder that both the Conservative and Labour parties are seeking solutions to the problem of large numbers of small boat trips.
And the number of legal immigrants is also very high.
I have known Nigel Farage for nearly 20 years.
He is a master of political theatre, with a gift for oratory and the ability to ad lib arguments fluently, as well as an ability to spot and exploit gaps in the political debate left by the Conservative and Labour parties.
He believes there is a huge disparity between illegal and legal immigrants.
He claims immigration creates a “national security emergency.”
He has also been accused of Islamophobia after saying wars in the Middle East are driving a small but growing number of people in Britain to vote on religious grounds in what he calls “sectarianism”.
But when I challenge critics’ suggestions that he’s divisive, he insists: “I’m going to say things that other people won’t say.”
Some may find this inciting, but I support him.
“No, they find it embarrassing. And it’s difficult and awkward. It’s happening because there’s no debate about this. And they’ll all cry to me because Labour started this with their totally irresponsible immigration policies and the Conservatives accelerated it.”
His ambitions are big: to replace the Conservative Party, the party he joined, then left, and then used to provoke, infuriate and infuriate for decades.
That seems highly unlikely at the moment, but they are scheduled to perform in five weeks.
However, 20 years ago the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union seemed remote.
For now, it’s the short term that matters.
Can he neutralise the Conservative attack line which claims a vote for Reform UK, of which he is honorary chairman, is a vote to put Keir Starmer in Downing Street?
Many Conservatives are already troubled by reform and their fears will be compounded by a smirking Nigel Farage once again thrust into the spotlight.
Farage told me that if Labour won the election and the Conservatives were destroyed, people could vote for Reform without fear of the wider consequences.
Well, wait: the vote hasn’t even taken place yet, and the Conservatives are concerned that support for Reform UK has come disproportionately from people who voted for them in 2019.
It has been a week since the general election campaign began.
Each political party is beginning to make its voice heard with its own unique stance.
The cacophony of voices grows louder and the pace continues to quicken.
The addition of Nigel Farage’s voice adds intrigue, personality, danger, excitement and anger in almost equal measure.
