Plus: Henry Bolton, secret LibDem agent. (Or not.) Penny Mordaunt, next Tory leader. (Or not.) British communists surprise us. (Or don’t.) And: my CNN joy.
Plus: Johnson’s EU speech. Turnbull’s sex ban. Horror in America. Change in South Africa. And: order your popcorn for this weekend’s UKIP conference.
The party’s leader says that it can either lose itself in another leadership election or help to shape Brexit.
The lights really are going out all over what’s left of the ‘People’s Army’ – the departure of their communications director leaves them without a single national press officer.
Plus: Vicious Cybernats. Bolton’s brass neck. Widdecombe’s ratings. Johnson’s death wish. And: the courage of my friend Tessa Jowell.
To be a tall poppy in UKIP was for many years a dangerous thing – unless your name was Nigel. He left them without a developing new generation.
The man who rose to prominence through a ruthless pursuit of what worked has now descended into just saying whatever makes him feel important.
Also: Scottish Tories row in behind bid to wreck the Withdrawal Bill; infighting in Welsh Labour over method of electing new leader; and more.
Since I last surveyed the political landscape in 2013 and 2014, some ruling tribes have been cast down, and some formerly lost tribes have risen to rule.
Also: DUP gear up for enhanced role whilst working on border compromise; and Holyrood committee shows its teeth and plunges SNP policy into chaos.
While the responsibilities of government must be shouldered, there’s no doubting the need for a time of renewal – one as profound as in any period of opposition.
I was elected as a UKIP councillor in Portsmouth but as a small business owner the Conservatives are my natural home.
And here’s the thing: Banks knew it. Farage knew it. But they didn’t care. Their primary objective was to be seen to lead the campaign, not to win it.
With Brexit underway and with UKIP in freefall, it’s time for me to come back home.
The number of UKIP councillors there has fallen from 22 to just eight.