Nigel Farage has admitted he is "more seriously than ever before" considering a return to frontline politics after new polling indicated he would comfortably win a former Ukip seat.
A survey commissioned by Arron Banks, a ex-Ukip donor who also played a key role alongside Farage during the Brexit referendum, suggested that the GB News presenter would easily win in the constituency of Clacton in Essex.
The seat was previously held by Douglas Carswell, who defected from the Conservative Party in 2014.
He won re-election twice under the Ukip banner, fighting a by-election upon his switch of allegiance and then being returned to Westminster in the 2015 general election.
Nigel Farage has given his biggest hint yet that he will return to frontline politicsPAThe Conservatives' Giles Watling has been the MP for the area since 2017.
The new poll claims that if Nigel Farage was to stand in Clacton at the next election he would win 37 per cent of the vote, beating the incumbent by ten percentage points.
"I have to say to you that this poll does make the balance of probabilities towards getting back on the pitch stronger," Farage told The Sunday Times in response to the findings.
"This poll does make me consider getting back on the pitch far more seriously than ever before."
Nigel Farage spent years in Brussels as an MEP but has never won a seat in the House of Commons
PA
The poll was carried out by Survation, with 509 people in the constituency surveyed on January 11 and January 12.
A return to frontline politics has long been teased by the former Brexit Party leader, who for years sat in the European Parliament but has never won a seat in a general election.
Farage added: "I remember in 2013 when Ukip was on the rise and I was going out around the country relentlessly.
"I realised the conversations happening among ordinary folk and what was being discussed at Westminster were two different things. The Brexit result in a way proved what I was thinking.
"So obviously I have to look at what Arron has produced for Clacton.
"I don’t suppose that is the only place that would produce that result and I have to make a huge decision about what I want to do.
"Do I want to be an influencer … or do I want to put my kit on again and get back on the pitch? I haven’t decided, but I have to say to you that this poll does make the balance of probabilities towards getting back on the pitch stronger."