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Nigel Farage slips into a hotel hand-in-hand with a blonde after boozing all night.

Leaving a Mediterranean bar shortly before dawn, this is the UKIP leader on the eve of the crunch Parliamentary by-election.

Married Farage was having fun in the sun in Malta while fellow activists pounded the pavements back in rain-soaked Blighty on the Newark campaign trail

Mr Farage, 50, had sloped off to the holiday island to deliver a lucrative speech to a tourism conference at the five-star Hilton hotel.

And determined to combine business with pleasure, the beer-loving politician partied until the early hours with blonde travel chief Ande Soteri.

Their night on the tiles set tongues wagging at the conference.

One delegate said: “There’s been quite a bit of gossip going on about the two of them today.”

But today Mr Farage denied there was any impropriety, saying: “Good god no.

"I had never even met her before yesterday – completely innocent.”

(Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mirror)

His German wife Kirsten examined our photos of her husband enjoying a pre-dawn stroll.

After looking at the images, she smiled and said: “Absolutely no comment.”

Mr Farage and Ms Soteri kicked off their night at the gala dinner of the Institute for Travel and Tourism’s annual conference in Valletta.

From there Mr Farage headed back to the hotel and the bar.

He downed large glasses of expensive red wine on a balcony with friends as they soaked up stunning views of the marina filled with luxury yachts.

When the bar closed at 2am Mr Farage was not finished.

He and his pals moved on to an opulent penthouse bar in Portomaso Tower, Malta’s tallest building.

They partied on the 22nd floor at the bar before calling it a night at 3.42am.

Mr Farage emerged with ITT Commercial Director Ms Soteri on his arm.

He walked her back to the hotel carrying her handbag, as she was on crutches.

(Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mirror)

When asked directly if he had slept with Ms Soteri, Mr Farage shot back: “What an impertinent question. No.”

He insisted he had simply been helping her because she was having difficulty walking, adding: “I did not help her back to her room.

"I helped her into the lift. That was it. We were not alone. There were other people in the lift.”

Tonight Ms Soteri said: “Yes, I was with Mr Farage. We are staying at the same hotel – there was no impropriety between us.”

(Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mirror)

The UKIP chief surfaced from his luxury hotel room at about 10.30am yesterday after just a few hours sleep.

He was spotted soon afterwards in the hotel bar by a guest from England, who asked him to pose for a photo.

The man said: “I wouldn’t vote UKIP, I just wanted the picture to show my mates. It was 11am and he was absolutely stinking of booze.”

Mr Farage denied claims from industry insiders that he had been paid between £5,000 and £10,000 to attend the three-day conference.

However, he did admit he was there to raise money for his party but refused to say if he was going to keep the fee.

He said: “I have not decided that yet. I might, I might not. I have some very serious medical bills.

"I am here to raise money for UKIP as I do all over the place.”

Mr Farage soaked up the rays abroad despite pledging to “throw the kitchen sink” at the Tories in Newark to help try and land his party a crucial first Westminster seat.

Party hopeful Roger Helmer, a former Tory MEP, was forced to shelter from torrential rain as he campaigned in temperatures of 13C on Wednesday – while Mr Farage enjoyed a balmy 22C.

The grinning politician did take time out of the conference to tweet a plea for help in the by-election.

Minutes before he went on stage to the Rocky theme tune, Mr Farage wrote:

He then added the party’s website link and the hashtag #PeoplesArmy.

Tonight, Mr Farage angrily insisted that he was indeed pulling his weight in the campaign.

He fumed: “I’ve given this seven days a week for 15 years.

"I happen to be here at a conference with people who happen to be UKIP supporters in a strong way.

"That is what I do.”

Mr Farage received a mixed reception at the conference.

Some people laughed along with his well-tested jokes but others took to Twitter to denounce him as “dangerous”.

Several criticised the UKIP chief for apparently telling the audience that he did not want to live “in a country where people speak different languages”.

One pointed out that Malta itself is a bilingual nation.

Mr Farage was also accused of calling Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond “racist” in his attitude towards the English.

Lucy Huxley, of the Travel Weekly Group, quoted him as saying: “If we’re going to use the word ‘racist’, let’s use it about Alex Salmond as they openly hate the English.”

(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)

The pictures of Mr Farage come after he was humiliatingly accused of having an affair in the European Parliament earlier this year.

MEP Nikki Sinclaire, who once represented UKIP, ambushed the anti-EU party leader by claiming that his spin doctor Annabelle Fuller was also his former mistress.

Britain’s first transgender parliamentarian stunned fellow MEPs by saying: “Does Mr Farage think it is a fair use of taxpayers’ money, namely his secretarial allowance, not only for him to employ his wife Kirsten but his former mistress Annabelle Fuller?

"Is this a responsible use of UK taxpayers’ money?”

Mr Farage previously said about the situation: “Every national newspaper has asked me about this since 2006 and the answer remains the same.

"It is not true.”