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TRUMP INAUGURATION

Brexit bash in DC is not as big league as hoped

Nigel Farage with former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, Michael Ashcroft, to his right, and Brexit funder Aaron Banks, far right
Nigel Farage with former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, Michael Ashcroft, to his right, and Brexit funder Aaron Banks, far right
SPLASH NEWS

The view of the White House from the top floor of the Hay-Adams hotel in Washington is the kind of panoramic shot usually only seen on television.

But last night Nigel Farage and his Leave campaign allies hosted network executives there at a pre-inauguration party to discuss a different concept for the small screen.

Bosses from HBO, the US cable and satellite channel, met the hosts to talk about making the tale of Brexit into a big-budget, six-part drama.

The series, which will set out to tell the tale of the Leave campaign and shock referendum result, will focus on the so-called Bad Boys of Brexit: Mr Farage, Arron Banks, a British insurance tycoon who poured more than £5 million into the anti-Brussels movement, and his right hand man, Andy Wigmore.

As the protagonists welcomed 400 guests to their lavish bash last night, they joked about which Hollywood A-listers could play each of them on screen. Lord Ashcroft, the Eurosceptic peer and long-standing friend of the former Ukip leader, insisted that he would appear as himself.

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Other well-known Britons who bounced into the party included Steve Hilton, former No 10 strategist to David Cameron, and the Tory MP Nigel Evans. The Mississippi governor Phil Bryant, an ally of Mr Trump, regaled partygoers with the story of how he introduced the “hero of Brexit” and “the guy who was going to be president” on a political “blind date” last summer.

Guests dined on an array of dishes, from cones of fish and chips to plates of scallops and tenderloin beef. As the English sparkling wine flowed, an electric string quartet played instrumental arrangements of Coldplay songs.

The lively, neon lit party differed from the genteel tea and champagne reception hosted by the British ambassador the day before. Sir Kim Darroch had welcomed the US politicians Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani, alongside the Supreme Court judge Stephen Breyer. Despite the hosts of the Brexiteer party vaunting their links to the president-elect and extending an invitation to him, Mr Trump did not show up. Giddy guests kept their eyes trained on the entrance for the first few hours in expectation, but eventually resigned themselves to disappointment.

Mr Farage did not demur from heaping praise on the US tycoon’s “larger than life personality” in his absence, however. The ex-Ukip chief told the crowd to cheers: “Trump is the only person I’ve met in my life who makes me feel like an introvert.”