Nigel Farage admits Ukip's leftward drift would hobble Tory pact

The Tories may have watched Douglas Carswell’s re-entry into the House of Commons in silence, but he seems to be getting a reasonably warm reception from his old colleagues behind the scenes. He has already exchanged jokes and arranged to dine and drink with a number of them. For a few weeks this will send the whips into a spin, as they try to work out whether it really is just lunch, or a brewing defection.

But it wasn’t just Carswell who was nattering with Conservatives this afternoon. Nigel Farage, who watched his first elected MP re-join the Commons from a gallery, has also been talking to some of them. Philip Davies was spotted shaking Farage’s hand in the members’ lobby, while others tried to press the Ukip leader on the possibility that the Right may one day unite.