How The Spectator stopped Mark Reckless from reaching parliament in 2005

When Mark Reckless stands for election as a UKIP candidate for Rochester and Strood, The Spectator will be against him. But we were against him when he stood as a Tory in 2005. Indeed, in that general election The Spectator backed the Conservatives (as you’d expect) but made a specific exception for Reckless, running for what was then Medway. Peter Oborne, then political editor, went so far as to draft a campaign statement for Bob Marshall-Andrews, the Labour MP whom Reckless was trying to depose. Marshall-Andrews, Oborne argued, was the true Conservative candidate.

Peter Oborne’s leaflet was distributed very widely during the campaign and Reckless was defeated by a fairly narrow margin (213 votes). So we’re bold enough to think that we made the difference.