As UKIP begin to soar in the polls at 38 per cent to Labour's 27 per cent and the Tories' 18 per cent (the Lib Dems are at eight per cent, fyi), there is a feeling that the party, whose main objective is to curb immigration, is only going to gain more political importance and control in the general election next year.
But the party has been caught up in controversy (again) today, after one of their donors, Demetri Marchessini, went on TV to say he doesn't believe rape can occur within marriage. Yes, really. Marchessini, a Greek shipping and investment tycoon, told* ITV News*: 'There's no such thing… If you make love on Friday and you make love on Sunday, you can't say Saturday is rape. Once a woman accepts, she accepts.'
He also said that the slave trade was beneficial to those enslaved. Oh, and that 'there is no love, only lust' in gay relationships, even those where commitment has been shown, 'They're not husband and wife, they're roommates and both of them go out cruising.' (Side note: Funny that he even knows the word for gay pick-up culture, isn't it?)
Though UKIP tried to distance itself from Marchessini last year, he donated £5,000 to them as recently as Christmas Eve 2013, and he might donate again, because, as he puts it, 'they're always asking people for money, they never stop asking for money'. Needy!
This isn't the first controversy caused by Marchessini. He previously wrote a book called Women In Trousers, A Rear View, which decried women wearing trousers and called for a ban on the practice. 'Only skirts excite men,' went his justification. And then, in January, he took out a full-page newspaper advert to have a pop at a columnist who, ahead of the Sochi Winter Games, wrote about the homophobic laws of Russia and their horrific effects on LGBT people. In the advert, he made the bizarre and simply untrue claim that 'there is no such word as "homophobic" – it cannot be found in any dictionary'.
Um. Babes. If 'twerking' can be in a dictionary, we think 'homophobic' can make it in there.
Also, it's worth pointing out that despite being a member of a party whose main goal is to stop immigration into the country, Marchessinio is Greek.
Also… Wait, we could be here for hours. In short, the guy seems like a prick.
When asked about Marchessini's comments and whether UKIP should be taking donations from him by Channel 4 News last night, UKIP party leader Nigel Farage said 'possibly not'. But when asked where Marchessini's money has gone, Farage, a former banker, said, 'I'm not an accountant.'
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.