I think the notion that the poor are gullible, easily gaslit and irredeemably stupid may have contributed here. My entire family voted for Brexit and they did so because they believed that politicians have stopped listening and treat everyone below the upper middle class with the sort of derision you've demonstrated in this article. There's a metropolitan elite and a disaffected working class, Farage is speaking to them. They aren't fascists, they just aren't hearing anything useful from an identity driven Labour Party and a nonsense-driven hard right Tory Party - that and the Liberal Democrats keep falling off paddle boards.

You won't win hearts and minds by presuming people are stupid - see Gordon Brown for more on this. I think Farage is a lone wolf like most narcissistic demagogues, he doesn't have any strategy and it's all about him - but that doesn't make him any less dangerous in the long run.