Late Night Farage, review: Straight-talking Nigel needs to shut up and listen

Is this the future for Nigel Farage, huffing into a radio microphone about Trident, Turkey and Jeremy Corbyn in the witching hour?

To be frank, I wasn't that enthralled with the idea of spending three hours in the company of the Ukip leader, not least because it was at a point in the day (10pm to 1am) when I'd rather be unconscious and not have his jolly brand of jihadist scaremongering infecting my dreams.

Still, Farage is no stranger to radio, or indeed to LBC, given his fortnightly phone-in slot on Nick Ferrari's breakfast show on Friday mornings. Though for me his most lasting impression was made on the station 18 months ago when he gibbered and squirmed under the glare of presenter James O'Brien, who meticulously went through his and his party's catalogue of inconsistencies.

But Farage is nothing if not resilient, and his working relationship with LBC appears to go from strength to strength. Late Night Farage is the first time he has hosted his own show, and it probably won't be the last.

Still, even he couldn't contain his surprise at being given the keys to the studio. "They've allowed me on. I mean, who can believe it? It's remarkable," he exclaimed to a caller who was castigating Jeremy Corbyn for his apparently disrespectful attitude towards dead soldiers. That caller turned out to be a 12-year-old boy called Sin.

Farage wondered why he wasn't asleep, but didn't get an answer since Sin was discussing the chipping away of British culture and revealing how, when he was older, he was going to be an entrepreneur. "It is the way forward, it helps the economy and it's only hard work which equals success," he observed. By now, it was clear why Sin wasn't in bed. He was too busy plotting to take over the world

It was supposedly in the interests of balance that Farage asked for those who disagreed with him to call the show, though was miffed when James from Wrexham suggested that rather than pointing the finger at the Labour leader over his views on Remembrance Sunday, he might look at his own party and some of its members' flirtations with fascism.

"I didn't want to make it party political, but you have," Farage replied testily, before launching a case for the defence.

And this, really, is problem at the heart of Farage as host rather than guest.

Over three hours he went to town on topics that were close to his heart and didn't hesitate in airing his views – repeatedly. In case we had any doubt as to where he stood, his preamble to the discussion about whether Turkey should join the EU went thus: "I don't think it makes sense to open up our doors... to 75 million people who on average are even poorer than the poorest states that have yet joined the European Union. I think the cultural differences are enormous and I'm worried, really, really worried, at what... I see as a growth of potential jihadism that will come into this country through Turkey."

It's possible that Farage would have enjoyed the job more had he dispensed with the phones altogether. I'm all for shaking up the binary format of the news-based talk show, but three hours of looking at the world through Farage's eyes was more than I could take. He may be able to convey his thoughts with clarity and concision but, if he wants to make it as a radio host, he needs to learn when to shut up and listen.

Twitter: @FionaSturges