Nigel Farage once sought the endorsement of former Conservative MP Enoch Powell, best known for his 1968 'rivers of blood' speech, newly unearthed letters have shown. The correspondence, discovered in a university archive by The Telegraph, reveals that Farage unsuccessfully requested Powell's backing for the UK Independence Party (Ukip) in 1994.
The letters also indicate that Ukip later twice asked Powell, who served as an MP for the Ulster Unionists after leaving the Tories, to stand as a candidate for the party. Farage has long expressed admiration for Powell, calling him his political hero, though he acknowledged that Powell's views on racial integration were mistaken.
A Ukip aide defended Farage's approach, stating that the request for endorsement was based on Powell's staunch euroscepticism, particularly his urging of Conservatives to vote Labour to keep Britain out of the European Economic Community, and had nothing to do with his controversial immigration warnings.
Powell was dismissed from the shadow cabinet following his April 1968 speech, which warned of potential violence from Commonwealth immigration and described the 'River Tiber foaming with much blood'. He later left the Conservative Party in 1974 over EEC membership and represented a Northern Irish constituency.
The revelations come as comedian and activist Russell Brand accused Farage of being a 'pound shop Enoch Powell' who required close scrutiny. Farage has previously stated that while Powell's delivery was wrong, the central thrust of his arguments on immigration remains valid.
