Roar-some welcome shows they love Nigel Farage
In an age of ‘rock star’ politicians across the divides, Mr Farage’s visit via the Brexit Party rally underlined his case to be the chart topper among them.
The screams and the cheers had died down, but mother and daughter were still basking in the afterglow of seeing their hero live on stage.
"We love Nigel," said daughter Katya Johnson. "He was fantastic," added mother, Angie Rowe.
But it was not a rock star they had given up their Friday night to see, but a politician. Nigel Farage might be just a middle-aged former commodity broker from Kent, but the crowds who packed out the hall at Telford International Centre couldn't get enough of him.
"He's worked 25 years to open people's eyes to what's going on," said Angie, a 51-year-old children's author from Telford.
"It doesn't matter what party he's in, we follow Nigel. He has a way of communicating with young people," said Katya, 33.
Like it or not, we live in the age of the rock-star politician. Similar things could be said about Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn, who each have their own band of fans who will jostle to take a selfie with their favourite leader. The grey days of Theresa May's 'strong and stable' government and Ed Miliband's battles with a bacon sarnie seem a very long time ago, far removed from today's world of personality cults and tribal identities.
Nigel Farage's magic had not reached out to all young people though. On the pavement outside the hall were three teenage members of Shropshire Youth for Europe, staging a counter-protest to the Farage phenomenon. Police sat in a car behind them in case any tempers boiled over, but they really needn't have bothered. Conference-goers did not pay their opponents a second glance as they drove out of the car park.
The counter demonstration was organised by Oscar Redgrave, 17, a sixth former from Shrewsbury.
"The main reason behind it wasn't about numbers, it was about getting our message out there," he said.
"We are here to show them that we remainers exist, that we are willing to talk but want to push for what we believe in."
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Back inside the hall, the more ardent Brexiteers were queuing to buy their party merchandise.
"The teddy bears have sold very well, as have the scarves," said the young woman behind the counter. "It has all been selling very quickly."
Many of the audience were already wearing their Brexit Party T-shirts as they headed into the hall. Paul Chawner, 60, from Sutton Hill, Telford, was one of them. The one-time Labour voter said in years gone by he would never have envisaged the day when he turned up to a political rally wearing a party T-shirt, but Brexit arouses strong emotions.
"I feel so strongly we should leave," he said. "The Brexit Party believes in getting Britain back for the British people, getting our country back and not being ruled by the EU."
His sentiments were echoed by former Tory voter Kim Alvey, 62, from the Shawbirch area of Telford.
"I believe in what Nigel's doing, we want to take back our borders and our economy," he said.
The event in Telford was the West Midlands leg of the Brexit Party's 'conference on wheels', which will see the party tour Great Britain's 10 European parliamentary constituencies. Party chairman Richard Tice served as Mr Farage's warm-up man, producing roars of laughter as he brandished a set of handcuffs on stage, and likened Theresa May's withdrawal deal to a prison sentence.
"If we hadn't launched the Brexit Party, Theresa May would still be prime minister," he said, to muffled boos. The mention of Nick Clegg and John Bercow were met with much louder boos.
"We will stop HS2, and save £100 billion," he bellowed, to rapturous applause. "We are not going to send £39 billion to bungling bureaucrats in Brussels."
Mr Tice introduced some of the candidates selected to fight seats in the West Midlands. First up was Mandy Childs, planning to stand against Sajid Javid in Bromsgrove.
"I'm standing here today as your candidate for Prime Minister," she said in her thick Midland accent, to guffaws from the audience. "Sorry Richard, I think I have picked up Jo Swinson's script."
The audience warmed to her as she spoke of growing up in a council house with five older sisters, the daughter of a coal miner and a worker in a cake factory in Smethwick. She revealed she was a belly dancing instructor, "So if yer clap to rhythmically, yer might get me going."
Rupert Lowe, the former chairman of Southampton Football Club, and now a Brexit Party MEP, is the party's candidate for Dudley North. He spoke in cut-glass tones out about the 'veneer of democracy' that came from the European parliament.
"It is paid for by us and the Germans, and is run by our historic foe the French," he said.
"As MEPs we are showered with the trappings of power, but no influence to do anything."
Elaine Adams, who will fight the marginal seat of Telford, spoke about a pensioner called Kathleen who was unable to pay her dentistry bill.
"We are spending £90 billion on HS2, courtesy of George Osborne who said we should spend big 'because that is what governments do'," she said. "No, George, they give Kathleen her dental treatment."
The candidates all got a good reception, but there was no doubt about the real reason people had turned out. Having spent the past half hour standing in the wings, Nigel Farage bounded on to the stage like Michael McIntyre at one of his stadium tours: "Hello Telford! Hello to the heart of England."
Speaking at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath, Mr Farage declared that founding the Brexit Party was the best thing he had done in his life. There were boos at the mention of Jean-Claude Juncker, boos for the mention of Michel Barnier, even bigger boos for a reference to Anna Soubry. He said there were 'two honourable Conservatives' in the West Midlands: "I would like to pay tribute to Sir Bill Cash and Owen Paterson, they are our friends," he added.
He repeated his call to Boris Johnson to do a deal with the Brexit Party, saying he would actively campaign for the Tories if they promised to deliver a 'clean Brexit'.
But he added: "If Boris Johnson thinks he can sell out, if he thinks he can con us, if he thinks he can put Mrs May's withdrawal agreement before Parliament in the last two weeks of October, if he thinks we are going to cave in, he has got another think coming."
The crowd rose to their feet, they brandished their Brexit Party signs, they waved the flags they bought in the foyer. The hall erupted in one loud cheer.
They love Nigel.
