Nigel Farage will today be allowed into the Conservative Party conference secure zone for the first time since the 1980s.
The former Brexit Party and Ukip leader has been persona non grata with the Tories for decades and seen as a major threat to their electoral hopes.
The award-winning television host has been a popular figure at Republican events in America thanks to his friendship with Donald Trump.
But Conservatives have tried to keep him out of Britain.
But today he walks into Manchester Central conference centre on a press pass to present his show for GB News and the Tories have decided not to veto his access.
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After the dinner, Mr Farage tweeted: “Open rebellion at the Conservative Democratic Organisation dinner where Lord Cruddas urges Tory donors to stop funding the Conservatives until there is change. Very strong stuff.”
But the evening also saw him honoured from the stage by Dame Priti who became the first senior Tory MP to publicly thank him for standing down Brexit Party candidates in 2019.
She also paid tribute to his contribution to British politics with some in the room hoping that it could herald a new realignment on the right with Mr Farage and his supporters joining with Conservatives on the right of the party.
Dame Priti thanked Mr Farage “for joining us tonight” and supporting the CDO in its “fight for freedom”.
To loud applause, she noted: “He’s been a champion for democracy for all my political life.
“I do believe that we would not have had Brexit if it was not for Nigel Farage.”
She said that Mr Farage was “a voice for choice, a voice to basically say ‘let the people decide’.”
Dame Priti was cheered when she said her party “owed [Farage] a debt of gratitude”.
She added: “He gave a voice to so many people who feel disenfranchised.”
