Get ready for a general election without precedent – 2015 is year zero for British politics

We now need two swingometers: one that swings between red and yellow (Lab and Lib); and one between blue and purple (Con and ’kipper).

Lord Ashcroft: My latest polling – and the mountain the Conservatives must climb to gain a majority

To win outright, they will need the votes of everyone who supported them last time, plus practically everyone who is even prepared to think about doing so next time.

David Cameron, human shield

Party members blame him for the Government’s problems and credit his Ministers for its successes.

Godfrey Bloom is Party members’ Gaffe of the Year

From dubious remarks to bust-ups with journalists, the former UKIP MEP has been all over the papers for all the wrong reasons.

Five trends, battles and challenges to watch in this new year

Osborne’s balancing act; Farage riding a tiger; Backbench rebels; Labour miserablists; and a few crucial days in May.

Stephen Tall: Five predictions for 2014

Okay, I’ll stick my neck out…The polling averages for the partieswill be Labour 36 per cent, Conservatives 33 per cent, Ukip 14 per cent, Lib Dems 10 per cent.

Cameron Penny: Europe’s free movement of peoples is a blessing, not a curse

Net EU immigration since the UK became a member of the EEC sits at around 800,000 people. That’s since 1973 – so roughly 20,000 people per year since then.

Kate Maltby: Farage has upstaged Cameron over Syrian refugees

His announcement perfectly suits his quest to dispel UKIP’s image as the new nasty party.

Instead of being spooked by UKIP, the Tories need to reassure Mondeo man

Voters want reassurance, not recklessness

Cameron runs “an organised hypocrisy”: Prime Ministers always do

Disraeli described the sense of betrayal which Graham Brady has this week expressed more temperately.

Stephen Tall: Where the parties are as 2013 ends – and what they face in 2014.

Labour: Up, but economically weak. Conservatives: Down, but not out. UKIP: Fantastic year, but still vulnerable. LibDems: Flatlining, but may again hold the balance.

Lord Ashcroft: Counting the ‘Kippers

Pollsters’ reputations are based on accuracy, and they therefore have no interest in underestimating the support of UKIP, or any other party.

Vote UKIP – get rag-tag-and-bobtail

Labour/Liberal-Democrat/UKIP rule in Norfolk means muddled decision making

Stephen Tall: The agony of the Tory modernisers

John Major, William Hague, Michael Howard, David Cameron – all promised to win over new converts, all ended up preaching to the choir. And still no sign of the promised land: an outright majority.

UKIP’s bad apples in Cambridgeshire

UKIP say: “we’re not LIB/LAB/CON”. They are absolutely right – they are worse.