Carswell. Energetic, honest – and with no idea of how the world actually works

Taking out the middle man is what the Protestant reformers promised to do, and Carswell is in his way a very Protestant figure.

Next week’s council elections: The Conservative / UKIP battlegrounds

Last time UKIP denied the Conservatives outright victories in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, East Sussex. Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

Labour in a vice – the four pincers that are squeezing Corbyn’s vote

These are the threats that keep Labour MPs up at night.

Wales could deliver the best Conservative result since the universal franchise

They could even tie with Labour. If they build in their 2015 success (and learn from their 2016 disappointment) more seats are definitely within reach.

Send Stuart to the Lords, and Carswell to…Downing Street

This election follows a referendum that strained, and in some cases shattered, party loyalties. The Prime Minister ought now to be building her own big tent.

The Prime Minister’s election gamble. The pros. The cons.

Above all, don’t neglect the obvious. May is vulnerable to Tory revolts – as the NICs debacle proved. She wants a real working majority.

Henry Hill: Sturgeon is backing away from head-on confrontation with May

Also: Brokenshire sets Good Friday deadline for talks as UUP elect new leader; and Welsh Tories regain second place as Reckless ‘re-rats’ from UKIP.

Lord Ashcroft: The parties.The leaders. And leaving the EU. What my 10,000-sample poll and focus groups found.

If the Government thinks that we cannot have our Brexit cake and eat it, Ministers must be careful not to let expectations get out of hand.

Ian Hudspeth: In Oxfordshire we have worked hard to balance the books

The Lib Dems will hope to pick up anti Brexit votes – but we are optimistic a campaign on local issues with deliver victory.

The remains of Remain still don’t understand Leave voters or Brexit – particularly on immigration

While they seek a silver bullet to keep us in the EU, the rest of the world is moving on.

UKIP is fading because Brexit no longer needs a special party

Contrast with the fate of the Lib Dems: on the right our party system has done its job, but on the left it’s struggling.

Carswell scorned the old politics. Now it takes its revenge.

If he wants to rejoin the Conservatives, he should be readmitted. But that’s not to say that he should be the candidate in Clacton in 2020.

Tim Bale: The Conservatives who threatened to vote UKIP. All mouth and no trousers.

Yet even if their concerns don’t ultimately lead to them backing someone else, these shouldn’t simply be dismissed as having no consequences.

UKIP rebuffs Banks’s demand to take over

The multi-millionaire has been suspended from the party after criticising Nuttall’s leadership.

Nadhim Zahawi: It isn’t UKIP that stands to gain from the collapse of Labour. It’s the Conservatives.

The “People’s Army” is an unpopular party and an unattractive brand. They always have been, and Brexit has changed nothing.