This year, the brand new Brexit Party crashed into the United Kingdom’s political landscape. It was launched in April by Nigel Farage — who US President Donald Trump has called, in admiration, “the man behind Brexit” — after the UK’s departure from the European Union was delayed at the end of March.

Farage has campaigned for three decades for Britain to leave the EU and used to be the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Just a few weeks after it was officially launched, his Brexit party became the leading UK party in the European elections in May, pushing the centre-right Conservative party into a humiliating fifth place.

The ramifications of Farage’s new outfit have been huge. Within a couple of months, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May had resigned and the more devoutly right-wing Brexiteer Boris Johnson had taken over. Johnson promised that the UK would leave the EU on October 31, with or without a withdrawal agreement — the latter option being Farage’s favoured “no deal” scenario. But Johnson could not keep his promise, and a general election has now been called for December 12. In a bid to fend off the challenge of the Brexit Party, Johnson has plunged the Conservatives to the right and, in a shock move, even sacked 21 centre-right Conservative MPs, including Theresa May’s former chancellor.

The bête noire haunting Johnson’s rightwards lurch is Farage — his insurgent party seems to be having as much external influence on the Conservatives as Johnson himself. Farage has even been pushing hard for a “Leave alliance” between the Brexit Party and the Conservatives. On Monday, he dropped the bombshell that the Brexit Party would not be standing in the 317 seats that the Conservative Party currently holds, to avoid splitting the Leave vote in the election, and potentially scuppering Brexit if other pro-Remain parties win. While on the surface it’s a significant climbdown, it in fact signals that a Leave alliance between the Conservatives and the Brexit Party is effectively now in place. It’s also a sign of how closely aligned Farage and Johnson’s Conservatives have become, even if Johnson has resisted publicly endorsing such a partnership.

Back in August, Steven Woolfe, a former UKIP Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and previous leadership contender, told me: “The Brexit Party looks like it’s a Conservative party in waiting.” But as Woolfe also pointed out, Farage’s plans far predate the Brexit Party. Ever since his UKIP heyday, Farage has been trying to reshape the British right. What is less known is that there was a specific source of inspiration for Farage and his allies: they call it the “Canada model.”

“For years they’ve talked about becoming the small Canada party that took over the Conservative Party,” Woolfe said, referring to the populist right Reform Party that challenged and eventually eclipsed the Canadian Conservatives starting in the late 1980s. “They feel that they can do that here if Brexit isn't achieved by Boris [Johnson],” Woolfe said.