Party meeting was part evangelist revival, part Nuremberg rally, with its leader seemingly bored of his own dishonesty

From the railway station, you take the emergency stairs down to the perimeter road. Walk half a mile round the back of the vast hangars of the Birmingham NEC. Get to a fork. To the right, the Bear Grylls Adventure. To the left, the Reform party conference. Decisions, decisions. A day out being macho and talking the Alpha course with Russell Brand. Or having reality twisted with Nigel Farage and his crew. Come to think of it, there’s not much difference.

The queue for Reform snakes back 100 yards from the entrance more than an hour before the start. Fair to say neither Labour nor the Tories will get a crowd this big for their conferences over the next 10 days or so. Inside, the merchandise stall is doing brisk business in Reform coffee mugs. No one seems that interested in the Richard Tice turquoise ties. Strange. Looking like the sales rep for a sunbed company is very much on brand for the upper echelons of the party.