There was only one story following the recent elections to the European Parliament – the success of the parties of the far right (UKIP and the BNP). Unlike most contributors and commenters on LC, I have consistently argued that the votes for these parties should be seen as a bloc. Campaigning against the BNP –

Only two yesterday: Ingleby Barwick W Ward, Stockton-on-Tees Council. Ind hold. Ind 1011 (62.7%, -16.4), Con 303 (18.8%, +6.9), Lab 163 (10.1%, +1.1), UKIP 82 (5.1%, +5.1),LD 54 (3.3%, +3.3). Swing of 11.7% from Ind to Con since 2008. South West Ward, Inverclyde Council. SNP hold after transfers. First prefs: SNP 919 (42.4%), Lab 490 (22.6%), LD 454 (21%), Con 171 (7.9%), Ind 67 (3.1%), UKIP 49 (2...

Dialling back the political job, dialling up the freelancing. Over at TakiMag, explaining UKIP to them.

Tim Worstall - back in harness after running for office as a UKIP MEP - writes about the Labour government's stated desire to ensure that not a single tract of the UK is without broadband access. It is the sort of techie, practical measure that Mr Gordon Brown thinks will help win him a bit of respect in the traditional Tory and LibDem shires. As Tim says, the logic of this idea is questionab...

Google trends tells us that the areas where "British National Party" is searched most relative to other searches are Luton, Bradford, and Maidenhead, Nottinham, Leeds and Hull. Then Bletchley, which crops up a lot in these google trends things. UKIP, however, are from Maidenhead, Liverpool, Brighton, Nottingham and then Cambridge (with good old Bletchley coming up). The English Democrats are from ...

UKIP peer Lord Willoughby has introduced a Constitutional Reform Bill which details how Britain would withdraw from the EU and the measures needed to do so. Alongside EU withdrawal, the Bill: Repeals the Human Rights Act. (Clause 2) Sets up binding national and local referendums. (Clauses 11 and 16) Passes power from Westminster to local government. (Clauses 12 - 15) Reviews Regional Assemblies an...

Hartlepool may have elected (and re-elected AGAIN) H'Angus the Monkey, but the people of Doncaster loved their own village idiot so much that they've now elected him as mayor. Peter Davies stood for the English Democrats - a right-wing grouping with a similar flavour to UKIP, but not at the extremes of the BNP and certainly without the electoral success of either. Thing is, he won. The scrutiny th...

This is a question that your humble Devil has pondered for some time, even before my involvement in UKIP, I would hear various different numbers bandied about—9% (only the number of Statutory Instruments, which does not include Directives and Regulations), 50%, 75% or, the latest, 84% (this last based on a German study). Luckily, the ever-excellent but, alas, all-too-infrequently posting Nos...

Tory heavyweight Ken Clarke has let the cat out of the bag &# the Conservatives have no intention of holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. He told the BBC's John Soppel today: "If the Irish referendum endorses the Treaty and ratification comes into effect then our settled policy is quite clear, that the Treaty will not be reopened." UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said: "This statement jus...

Just the one by-election last night: Stepping Hill Ward, Stockport MBC. LD hold. LD 1773 (47.3%, -6.2), Con 1336 (35.6%, -1), UKIP 257 (6.9%, +6.9), Lab 225 (6%, unchanged), Green 158 (4.2%, +0.3). Swing of 2.6% from LD to Con since 2008.