Khaled Ali is an unassuming sort of revolutionary. Dressed in a tweed jacket, his formidable eyebrows arching over thick-rimmed glasses, he could be mistaken for a substitute teacher rather than a firebrand lawyer and hopeful presidential candidate in Egypt’s forthcoming election.

“I’m seen as a traitor funded from abroad,” he said, shrugging off the criticisms levelled at him by Egyptian media and pro-government figures.