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The former Ukip leader was in the city with his successor as they campaigned ahead of the Stoke Central by-election.



The pair were holding a joint campaign event in Stoke today, with Mr Nuttall tipped to win the seat and become Ukip's second MP. According to a poll carried out by the Leave.EU campaign group, Mr Nuttall is on course to win the Stoke Central by-election. Now a Ukip security source says both men were fine after the incident: "They didn't hit anyone at all they broke up in the air - just looked like they hit us. "They launched them from about 20 meters away". "There were lots of people floating around. Bit of bad language and that was that.'

The higher profile an area is the more chance that you get some of those problems solved Nigel Farage

Now MEP Bill Etheridge who represents the constituency of the West Midlands in the European Parliament says Mr Farage who is giving a speech tonight and Paul Nuttal are going to continue to campaign. He told Express.co.uk: "This is typical of the left; they have no arguments left so they resort to violence. "They will learn that they cannot intimidate the legitimate voice of the British people . The more they attack us the more resolute we will be. The people of Stoke want us to be here and we will be ramping up the campaign as voting day draws closer"

GETTY Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall were egged as they campaigned in Stoke

GETTY Mr Farage and Mr Nuttall were targeted by campaigners

The higher profile an area is the more chance that you get some of those problems solved Nigel Farage

The survey shows the new Ukip leader has 39 per cent of support in the Staffordshire constituency. It predicts Labour's Europhile candidate Gareth Snell will finish second with 33 per cent of the vote. Tory hopeful Jack Brereton, who also backed Remain, is projected to finish third, narrowly ahead of Lib Dem candidate Zulfiqar Ali.

GETTY Mr Farage's umbrella saved Mr Nuttall from a sticky mess

This is the second time in recent years that the Brexit figurehead has been pelted with eggs by a protester. In 2014 Mr Farage, the then Ukip leader, was hit with an egg as he arrived in Nottingham to rally support ahead of the European elections. Ukip went on to cause a seismic shock in European politics and win that election in Britain.

GETTY Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall ran into a bit of bother in Stoke today

They secured 24 seats, compared to Labour's 20 and the Tory's 19. Last week Mr Farage said Mr Nuttall's popularity locally is due to his willingness to tackle local problems including hospital waiting times. Mr Farage told the Stoke Sentinel that Mr Nuttall who is facing major establishment competition does not have a 'magic wand' to solve Stoke-on-Trent's problems.

Nigel Farage in pictures Mon, April 3, 2017 Nigel Farage is a British politician who has been the leader of the UK Independence Party since October 2016. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 48 Nigel Farage in pictures