Nigel Farage's meeting with Donald Trump sparks Tory infighting

Tory peer and former trade envoy Lord Marland said Downing Street should use Mr Farage as a 'salesman', capitalising on his friendship with the President-elect

Donald Trump and Nigel Farage at Trump Tower in New York on 12 November, when the Ukip leader became the first British politician to meet the President-elect after his election victory

Nigel Farage's easy access to Donald Trump is provoking tension among Tories as he offers himself up as a deal broker between Downing Street and the next incumbent of the White House.

After spending more than an hour with the president-elect, the interim Ukip's leader insisted Theresa May should stop running him down and instead use his closeness to the tycoon-turned-next US head of state to “put the national interest first”.

“The problem is that No 10 keep on putting out press statements saying that I'm irrelevant. I would have thought that in the national interest I might just be able to broker a coming together of these parties that don't know each other at all,” Mr Farage told the BBC.

The provocative intervention came after the president-elect's invitation to Mr Farage to become the first British politician to visit him at Trump Tower in New York sparked infighting among prominent Tories.

After Downing Street insisted the outgoing Ukip chief would have “no role” in the Government's dealings with the incoming US administration, Tory peer, and former trade envoy, Lord Marland said Downing Street should use Mr Farage as a “salesman”.

“Anything we can do at any level to rebuild that relationship will be to Britain's advantage, and if Mr Farage happens to be one of the people who encourages that relationship then so be it.

“Any manufacturer would use its best salesman to try and help get a market for them and if No 10 decides that that's the person, then fine,” he told the BBC.

The view was in marked contrast to prominent Tory Crispin Blunt who insisted “there is no need for Nigel” in Downing Streets's dealings with the new US administration.

After pulling off the political coup of spending time with Mr Trump as he put together his new administration, Mr Farage hinted ministers are sounding him out about dealing with the president-elect as he revealed the Republican victor's close advisers have “reservations” about Theresa May's government.

Asked if he had contact with Cabinet figures regarding his close ties to the incoming president, Mr Farage told Sky News: “I am not going to go into whatever private phone calls I may, or may not, have had with individual ministers.”

Mr Farage disclosed that members of the president-elect's inner circle were concerned about unflattering comments made by British Cabinet ministers, though Mr Trump told him he had a “nice” phone call with Mrs May.

“He said he had a nice conversation, although some of his team had reservations about what members of the Cabinet have said during the election. Believe you me, his team are conscious of the comments,” Mr Farage told the Daily Telegraph.

The pair met at Trump Tower in New York and spent over an hour discussing the president-elect's victory, global politics and the status of Brexit, according to Ukip.

Mr Farage used US media appearances to warn Mrs May that she needed to “mend fences” with Mr Trump after the “quite rude” things said about him by leading Tories.

PA