Nine years ago, in the wake of the Damascene Brexit referendum result, I began to research a putative biography of Nigel Farage.

The fulfilment of the then UK Independence Party leader’s lifetime political ambition had him being talked about as the most consequential British politician since Margaret Thatcher.

And, despite his virtual omnipresence on the political scene, in one way or another for a generation, little was known about him.

It was a surprise to me why, despite the acreage of news reporting about Farage and his party over the years, a biography had not already been written.

Read more by Carlos Alba

Behind his bluff straight talking and no-nonsense, anti-politician exterior, there was a complex personality, riddled with half-truths and contradictions.

Throughout the media coverage, there was the same periodic gossip, from claims of him singing Nazi songs at school – which he denies – to questions about his running of his party and its finances and his complicated private life.

The reason for the absence from the bookshelves, soon became clear – publishers weren’t interested.

People who read books had no desire to learn more about this grubby parvenu with the ubiquitous Rothmans fag and pint of warm English bitter, they insisted.

Even political geeks and anoraks would not be prepared to part with the cover price for a book about a self-promoting opportunist whose time, in any case, had already passed.

There was more than a hint of snobbery in their blanket rejection but, as gatekeepers to the literary world – and particularly its finances – I recognised that they knew when something would or would not fly.

I have been reminded of this recently........

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