Is Nigel Farage having any more luck in South Thanet? According to a new poll from Survation on the eve of Ukip’s spring conference, Farage has pulled ahead of the Tories and Labour in his target constituency. The poll has Ukip on 39 per cent, Labour on 28 per cent and the Conservatives on 27, giving Farage
Nigel Farage is becoming a jet setter. Yesterday evening, he addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of Republicans in Maryland. Later today, he is delivering the final speech at Ukip’s spring conference in Margate. It’s a tough life, but why did he bother going 3,000 miles for a 20 minute speech? His friendly style appeared
Which party does the public trust the most to control immigration? ComRes/ITV News have released a new poll revealing it’s not the Conservatives — unsurprisingly given today’s figures. 36 per cent trust Ukip the most to tackle immigration, compared to 19 per cent for the Tories: [datawrapper chart=”http://static.spectator.co.uk/isCLx/index.html”] The poll also reveals that over half of the public
Are the SNP poised to become Westminster’s kingmakers? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Alex Massie discusses this week’s cover feature on the role the Scottish nationalists could play after the next general election. If the SNP wipe out Labour north of the border, will questions about the future of the union be back
Have you seen Boris Johnson? The Mayor of London has been surprisingly absent from the Conservatives’ floundering campaign so far. He was not chosen to be member of the core team fronting the campaign — Sajid Javid, Nicky Morgan, Theresa May, William Hague and George Osborne in case you’d forgotten. His most prominent appearance was
Is Douglas Carswell happily at home in Ukip? The Clacton MP’s latest policy intervention, this time on immigration, adds to the sense that his beliefs differ somewhat from his party and its leader. His op-ed in the Times today for example stated that Enoch Powell was wrong about the dangers of immigration: ‘Immigration has not been without its challenges. Yet it has
It’s been an inauspicious start to the Green Party’s election campaign. Natalie Bennett has given two radio interviews this morning where she produced rather poor answers regarding her party’s policies. On the Today programme, Bennett said Britain’s foreign policy should be centred around appeasing Russia: ‘What we need to do is put diplomatic pressure on Russia, put economic pressure on Russia, but
Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s political career is over. Following the Dispatches/Telegraph lobbying expose, the former Conservative defence and foreign secretary and MP for Kensington has announced he is standing down at the next election. This has created a vacancy in one of the most sought-after Tory seats in the country, represented in a previous incarnation by Alan Clark and Michael
Ukip’s spate of bad publicity appears to be hitting it in the polls. The racism row over the Meet the Ukippers documentary comes as the party has dropped several points in two new polls. According to Lord Ashcroft’s latest national survey, the party is now on 11 per cent, while Labour is up five points to 36 per
Is conservatism in Britain broken beyond repair? Tim Montgomerie thinks it’s time for a reformation on the right. In the latest Mini Election video, I speak to the Times columnist and founder of ConservateHome about his new project The Good Right, which sets out his proposals for reuniting and reinvigorating the conservative movement. Given that the Conservative Party hasn’t won a majority since 1992,
£20 million — that’s how much money was donated to the political parties in the last quarter of 2014. The Electoral Commission has released their latest report on political donations and unsurprisingly given the election campaign, more money is being thrown about. Over £5 million more was donated in Q4 last year compared to Q3.
How close is Ukip to taking away seats from the Conservatives in May? Lord Ashcroft has surveyed the Ukip-Tory battleground in his latest round of constituency polling. He has surveyed four likely Ukip targets to find out how the Conservative vote is holding up: Boston & Skegness, Castle Point, North East Cambridgeshire and South Basildon & East
Is Vladimir Putin drawing a new Iron Curtain over Europe? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Anne Applebaum and Ben Judah discuss the new Spectator cover feature on whether Putin’s is winning his war on the West. Is Putin worried about the strength Western liberal democracies or the power of the European Union? How does his
Britain has reached its highest ever level of employment. According to new figures from the ONS, the employment rate has risen to 73.2 per cent — or close to 31 million people in work. This stands as the joint highest rate since records began in 1971. Unemployment is down to 1.86 million. The short-term jobless
Labour’s decision to shy away from an EU referendum has cost it a senior figure. The Telegraph reveals that Harriet Yeo, the former chairman of Labour’s National Executive Committee between 2012 and 2013, has quit the party over Ed Miliband’s refusal to offer a referendum. Although she hasn’t joined Ukip, she will be lending her support
Inflation fell to 0.3 per cent in January, the lowest level since records began in 1989. As the above chart shows, the government’s target of two per cent CPI inflation is now a long way off. The ONS has attributed the slow down to falling fuel and food prices — the latter is thanks to the
What would happen if Britain left the EU later this year? According to Channel 4, the country would descend into riots and anarchy. Last night’s one-off drama Ukip: The First 100 Days offered a dystopian vision (complete with Beethoven’s 7th symphony) of the implausible situation where Ukip is victorious in May’s election. A landslide victory makes
Are the Tories beginning to edge ahead of Labour in the polls? ICM have released their latest monthly poll, which suggests a surge in support for the Conservatives. Since their last poll in January, the Tories have gained six points according to ICM, putting them four points ahead. Labour are on 32 per cent, down one point from
The Labour vs. Conservative battle of economic plans is heating up. Ed Miliband is launching a 79-page Better Plan for Britain’s Prosperity today, which appears to be his latest alternative on the Conservatives’ robotic chants of a ‘long-term economic plan’ for ‘hardworking families’. But this isn’t the first time they have launched their plan for
Tim Aker is one of Ukip’s most recognisable figures. At just 29, he is already an MEP for the East of England, a local councillor in Aveley and, until recently, head of the party’s policy unit. He left the latter role earlier this year to focus on his battle to become the MP for Thurrock.
