Yesterday I attended Nigel Farage’s walkabout in Felixstowe, Suffolk, followed by his rally in nearby Ipswich. The latter was jam-packed to the rafters. We sat shivering because the doors of the venue had to be left opened for the overspilled crowds. Graciously the Reform leader gave a separate speech to those unable to attend the main event in a separate smaller room, we later learned.

Flanked by Robert Jenrick and David Bull, Farage was on electric form – not merely rehearsing fan favourites but speaking passionately and topically on events which had taken place within the day, such as the terror attacks in Golders Green, building much of his speech around that.

If only those who call Farage a fraud actually knew the man. In person he is very much the same man you see on tv: funny, passionate, lucid and full of conviction. This is no act for the camera crews.

One benefit the Reform leader will enjoy as PM will be proper police protection. Try as they might, his security could not prevent a mindless rent-a-mob obstructing his Felixstowe walkabout, standing in the way of free speech they claim he offends, while preventing those wishing to talk with Farage from actually doing so.

Funny how those who scream fascism the most seem to care about freedom of speech the least. Funny too there is never any condemnation from the other party leaders about this type of carry-on, mostly coming from their supporters. Farage told journalists after that if Reform supporters did this he would be outraged. More to the point, so would the media.

But then again Britain currently suffers under a PM who thinks so little of democracy he attempted to block this May’s elections – something which only went ahead, as Farage reminded the Suffolk audience, thanks to Reform’s actions against this awful Labour regime.

“No taxation without representation” was a line Farage repeated to media before the event and during his speech. Why should the people of Suffolk – or anywhere else for that matter – pay through the nose for their council tax only to be denied a say on who runs their councils?

Farage believes the economic fallout of this conflict in Iran could catalyse an early election, something he has already predicted. While Sir Keir Starmer is on the ropes, the man really could be done for after May. But Reform is hardly shaking in its boots, given the calibre of potential leaders who could replace the PM (or Kemi Badenoch, for that matter).

Unruffled by the earlier mob protest, Farage brought the house down last night in Suffolk – part of a wider UK tour which will loop back to East Anglia at the end of the month. As David Bull reminded the audience, Reform is set to win eight of Suffolk’s nine parliamentary seats at the next general election. Judging from last night, I’d bet the house on it.