A bright future for Farage?

Farage is made of sterner stuff and he will be well aware that his own triumphs at the EU elections have made him a serious force to be reckoned with in British politics.

After all, his party was runner-up at the Peterborough election, knocking the Conservatives into third place.

The Brexit Party continues to win support from some disillusioned Conservative and Labour party members, and will represent a danger to both parties when the general election arrives.

Meanwhile, the Tories will at least be gratified that they have pushed the upsurging Liberal Democrats into fourth place at Peterborough. This constituency used to send MPs to Parliament on single-figure majorities, and so the 600-vote Labour victory can be regarded as almost a luxury in this part of the country.

But both the major British political parties have much work to do to restore the kind of faith they enjoyed among the British electorate for years.

So Farage, although he hoped to win at Peterborough, will not be disappointed by being runner-up.

His party’s future seems brighter at the moment than that of Labour or the Tories.

- Can a new leader rescue the Conservative Party from the turmoil and chaos into which it is now embedded?

It would seem that someone of the stature of Margaret Thatcher would be required to restore the party's fortunes.

But I see no one of that stature in the motley line-up of candidates aspiring to replace Theresa May.

The UK needs to be thumping the table and dictating their terms with Brussels with far more vigour than they have shown so far.

But the prospects of that happening appear bleak.