Nigel Farage ‘mistress’ claims she was ‘prevented from visiting him in hospital after plane crash’

A woman who claims to have had an affair with former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has claimed she was prevented from visiting him in hospital after his plane crashed.

Annabelle Fuller, 36, said she was turned away from hospital as another woman close to the politician was in the room.

During an election stunt in 2010, Mr Farage was injured after the plane he was in flipped upside down and nosedived into a field.

“A friend rang to tell me about the crash, followed immediately by a party official who said that I should make my way to the hospital as no one else was there,” Ms Fuller, a former political aide to Nigel Farage, told The Mail on Sunday. “I was shaking with worry by the time I got there. I didn't even make it inside before a woman who said she was his local aide barred my way.”

Ms Fuller claims she was told Mr Farage’s ex-wife was in the room, which is why she could not enter, so she went home.

She says Mr Farage later called her from hospital to apologise for the way she was treated.

Ms Fuller claims she subsequently found out another woman, Laure Ferrari - who runs the think-tank Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe - was visiting Nigel Farage in hospital.

“She must have been already nearby to have arrived at the hospital first,” she told the newspaper. “I'm told that Ukip members were trying to calm her down and move her out before Kirsten got there. They definitely didn't want me to meet Laure either.”

The former speechwriter and adviser to Mr Farage said the pair had an affair from 2004 until last year, but claims she was told to keep quiet about the relationship to “save Brexit” and Ukip’s reputation.

“Right from the beginning, lying about the affair was a strategy we decided on," she said. "We had many conversations about it, even in the past couple of years. He told me I had to keep quiet.”

“Nigel and I both knew we had to keep quiet to save Brexit. We are both liars and hypocrites, but the reason I had to lie throughout the years was that I didn't want Ukip or the cause we were fighting for to be damaged,” she said.

She said she suffered depression as a result of the relationship.

Issuing a statement in response to the claims, Mr Farage did not confirm or deny the affair.

“At the time of Ms Fuller's employment the party did not know there was a history of mental illness and other serious personal issues. I always tried to help her, recognising that she had ability, and prevented her from being fired on several occasions.”