Gingrich victory brings million-dollar boost to his White House bid

Mr Gingrich’s campaign team said he had raised more than a million dollars in just hours – money that is much needed as the primary battle moves into Florida.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives ravaged the sense of inevitability surrounding Romney’s second run for the nomination, with a remarkable 12 per cent defeat of the former Massachusetts governor in Saturday’s South Carolina primary election.

But the next contest, in the far larger and more diverse state of Florida on January 31, will require huge spending on television advertising and Mr Gingrich so far has been underfunded.

His sudden rise of fortunes has relied on the free media attention he has gained through stellar televised debate performances, particularly one last Thursday in South Carolina. He roundly attacked what he termed the “elite” media and political class, then went on to trounce the patrician Romney, a former venture capitalist whose wealth is estimated at up to $250m (£160m).

Mr Gingrich took pleasure in the discomfort he is causing among the Republican establishment that backs Mr Romney. “I think you’re going to see the establishment go crazy in the next week or two,” he said on ABC television.

Mr Romney has responded by going on the attack against Mr Gingrich. “He had to resign in disgrace. I don’t know whether you knew that,” Mr Romney said of Mr Gingrich’s time as House speaker in the 1990s. Mr Gingrich’s three marriages could also cost him the support of evangelical Christians.