IS Boris Johnson Britain's answer to Donald Trump? At the weekend the Brexit campaign's biggest beast drew comparisons between the EU and Adolf Hitler's failed attempt at European conquest.

In ordinary circumstances, a politician who conjured the spectre of Hitler would be rightly castigated for a catastrophic lack of judgement.

But with the EU referendum campaign descending further into acrimony with every passing day, senior Tories, including Iain Duncan Smith and former Chancellor Lord Lamont, rallied to Mr Johnson's side last night.

The former London mayor has already stumbled badly on the campaign trail after he referred to Barack Obama as a "part-Kenyan President" with an "ancestral dislike of the British empire".

But neither gaffe seems to have wounded Mr Johnson, who is still more trusted than David Cameron on Europe and remains the bookies favourite to replace him as Prime Minister.

The winds of change that have propelled Donald Trump to the cusp of the Republican nomination are blowing through politics in this country, too.

Trump has triumphed not because of what he says - so much of it nonsensical and very often downright offensive - but because he is perceived as an outsider. Bernie Sanders enjoys the same support - albeit to a lesser extent - among Democrats fed-up with Hilary Clinton as the continuity candidate.

Before Iraq, Tony Blair was known as "Teflon Tony" for his uncanny ability to emerge unscathed from setbacks that would have destroyed less popular politicians. The same non-stick coating now applies to Johnson (or 'Boris' as his friends in the media prefer to call him).

The Vote Leave campaign is best placed to benefit from voters' disillusion with the ruling elite because it offers the temptation of a new beginning. And, despite being a leading member of the same elite, Mr Johnson remains on course to succeed Mr Cameron.

The Remain campaign ignores the rise of Donald Trump at its peril.