Distant relative of Guy Fawkes joins Ukip

The UK Independence Party has hailed the recruitment of a man with family connections to Guy Fawkes, with the party leader Nigel Farage describing his membership as demonstrating “the blood of rebellion still runs in his veins”.

Mr Farage said retired headteacher Philip Fawkes was the “ten-times great-grandson” of the leader of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and the party speculated that he might one day get to the Commons by legitimate means.

A spokeswoman clarified that in fact he was not directly descended, but shared a common ancestor.

“Was Guy Fawkes the last man to enter Westminster with honest intentions?” Mr Farage wrote on Twitter. “Ukip has its own Mr Fawkes, sharing the same lineage.”