To his critics, Nigel Farage is performatively petulant: even in victory, refusing to attend the Clacton election count on contentious security grounds. The Reform UK leader’s by-election win and resulting return to Parliament is, they argue, not even really a victory. Rather, it was predictable, and, anyway, the comedian dressed as a bin did a bit better than expected. We reached peak Farage a year ago with Reform at 35 per cent in the polls – now things are spiraling for him. The problem with this churlish, Westminster village narrative is it vastly underestimates the man who has just become...