Nigel Farage is in his element: standing in a traditional British pub with a pint of beer in his hand and lapping up the attacks on his anti-EU UK Independence Party.

"To be honest with you, the more they abuse us, the better we do," Farage later tells AFP with a smile as he campaigns in the naval city of Portsmouth, southern England, ahead of European parliament elections on May 22.

For Farage, "they" are the three political parties of the British establishment: Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, their Liberal Democrat coalition partners and the Labour opposition.

"They" also includes the British media who in recent weeks have uncovered a series of racism scandals about UKIP candidates.

The chain-smoking Farage has been forced to disown a series of such rogue "Ukippers", as he tries to turn a chaotic one-man band into a serious political party capable of winning its first seat in the British parliament.

Farage has also been criticized in the British media for expressing his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin "as an operator, but not as a man" for his handling of the Syrian civil war.

But despite the media onslaught, UKIP, which has just nine seats in the European parliament, has seen a surge of popularity in recent months. A recent poll gave it 38 percent for the upcoming European elections, with Labour at 27 percent, the Conservatives at 18 percent and the Liberal Democrats at eight percent.

Farage is now vetting new candidates more carefully, exerting greater control over his party - but he still looks relaxed as he stands in the Isambard Kingdom Brunel pub in Portsmouth.

Exit from the EU

Named after the pioneering 19th century civil engineer, the pub symbolizes the past glories that UKIP would love to return to Britain - starting with an exit from the European Union.

"I love Europe," says Farage. "But I hate the flag. I hate the anthem. I hate the institutions."

Now he is aiming to win more seats for UKIP in the European parliament - the place where he once lambasted EU president Herman Van Rompuy as having the "charisma of a damp rag".

At home, he is hoping for a "no" vote in the 2017 referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EU.

The party's electoral literature says some three quarters of British laws are made in Brussels, and that 26 million Europeans want to move to Britain to find work.

UKIP's message resonates with a growing number of British voters, and its ranks are swelling with disaffected Conservatives, Labour voters or the undecided, particularly among older Britons.

The UKIP leader says he is a "classic liberal" and refused the offer of an alliance with French far-right leader Marine le Pen, saying it was "like one of these classical novels where the guy keeps on proposing marriage".

In their recent book Revolt on the Right, British academics Matthew Goodwin and Robert Ford said UKIP's success stemmed from a "genuine insurgency outside the established party system".

At 50, Farage is enjoying a fourth chance at life. The former commodities trader has survived a serious road accident, testicular cancer and the crash of a plane that was pulling a UKIP electoral barrier during Britain's 2010 general election campaign.

"We are on our way," he says.