A leading Brexit campaigner has been accused of racially abusing a black Remain supporter by suggesting he looks like Diane Abbott with a “more glowing complexion”.

Andy Wigmore, who ran the Leave.EU campaign and is a close associate of Nigel Farage and former Ukip donor Arron Banks, also suggested Femi Oluwole sounded like the shadow home secretary during his late-night tweet from Belize.

He made the comment in response to Mr Oluwole’s criticism of claims that the European election results indicated the public backed a no-deal Brexit.

“Have you eaten @HackneyAbbott Femi?” Mr Wigmore asked. ”You sound like her, you have a grasp of numbers second only to her AND you even look like her, although you have much more of glowing complexion.”

The tweet was quickly reported to Twitter and branded “racist” by other users but Mr Wigmore responded that it was “rude not racist”. He included a message from Twitter saying the tweet was not a breach of its policies.

Mr Oluwole, who has written for The Independent, responded with an attack on Mr Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party. “It’s ridiculous that Nigel Farage can unleash the racism of @LeaveEUOfficial & Ukip, then just leave both, form a new party and we’ve just swallowed it like he’s no longer racist.

“His strategy has all the sophistication of a child thinking he’s invisible by covering his own eyes!”

He received support from Change UK MP Anna Soubry, who said: “No one should have to put up with this revolting racist abuse.

“Wigmore, his mate Farage et al do not represent the majority of British people and it’s time we stood up to them beginning with reporting this to Twitter and the police.”

Mr Wigmore went on to tweet a picture of himself posing next to Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Arron Banks and former Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam.

“Looking forward to welcoming you to the UK,” he said, referring to the US president’s visit to London on 3 June.

Mr Oluwole responded: “A man who basically just told me all black people look alike is about to go meet with his good pal who happens to be the guy setting the UK’s political agenda. What a time to be alive!”

The shadow home secretary has not yet commented on the row. During the 2017 election campaign, Ms Abbott was the victim of almost half the abuse directed at women MPs on Twitter, according to Amnesty International research.