You may have thought (or hoped) you’d never have to see or hear about him again, but the rock-star reception that Nigel Farage was warmly welcomed with at the Conservative party conference earlier this month clearly confirmed that he is back and bigger than ever before.

He circled around the conference hall like a hungry vulture sizing up his prey as a sea of Tories showered him in praise and attention. He was then later videoed dancing with former Home Secretary Priti Patel with a big smile sprawled on his face at the conference after party.

It’s unsurprising that he looked so glee though considering many political pundits have predicted he may be making a prominent return to British politics, with Farage himself boasting that he’d be “very surprised” if he was not made “Conservative leader by 2026”.

Although, this reveals more about the Tory Party than it does Farage, as it demonstrates just how desperate thy really are that they’re willing to support someone who was once seen as a hostile outsider to their party but has now arguably been promoted as the commanding general.

Farage was actually a member of the Tory party until 1992 where he left to form the infamous UKIP which he has since resigned from. Perhaps he hopes a blue rosette might finally grant him access to Parliament.

Although, the prospect of him actually becoming Conservative party leader was denounced by the party chairman Greg Hands, who said: “First of all there is no vacancy, and secondly I would be extremely surprised if Nigel Farage were ever to be Conservative leader.”

However, Farage’s appearance at the Tory conference in Manchester is the first time he has attended such an event in decades which cannot go unnoticed. It is also undeniable that his loyal supporters, many of which tune in daily to his popular GB News channel, could prove extremely useful in rejuvenating support for the Tories and breathing some life back into their deflated party.

The fear of losing the next general election has thus pushed the Tories to the edge of a very dangerous cliff. They’re being squeezed by both sides of the spectrum - with Labour and the Lib Dems on the left and Reform UK and Britain First on the right - which is dividing and splitting the Conservatives core base.

What Sunak is doing clearly isn’t working, and the pressure to perform is thus pushing him further and further to the radical right. His conference speech, which was riddled with tendentious soundbites and controversial catchphrases, was clear proof this is the case.

Yet the right-wing zealots in Sunak’s party still don’t think he’s doing enough and are demanding an even firmer stance on topical issues such as immigration and Net Zero.

The danger is, if Sunak continues to succumb to such pressure, then far-right ideology may become firmly legitimised into our society and pave the way for even more extreme politicians to emerge in the future.