FARAGE NAILS IT

The Brexit Party went to ground following last year's general election and, asides from a Brexit Day appearance by Nigel Farage, little was heard for months.  Then last month it was announced that the party would rebrand as 'Reform UK', hardly an inspiring name change.  In fact it conjures up memories of that disastrous 2019 Remainer enterprise conjured up by Chuka Umunna, Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry - Change UK and its various alternative names.  The key difference is that they were starting from scratch, whereas Farage has a long track record and most recently a very successful party with a household name.

Yes, you may scoff at his failure to get any MPs elected, but a few months prior to that general election he led his new party to a thumping victory at the European elections.  That achievement was remarkable, but his party's contribution to the general election was equally significant and yet largely unheard of.  Without the Brexit Party, the Tories would never have demolished Labour's red wall.  Contrary to popular belief, the Tory vote is not split by UKIP or the Brexit Party - it's actually the Labour vote that suffers, particularly in those working class areas north of Watford.  One of the prime examples of this is the 2017 general election when Labour surged as a direct beneficiary of the collapse in the huge UKIP vote from 2015.

Farage's decision to change the party name is probably not his greatest idea and he may rue that decision in 2024, but he is still tapping into that working class mindset again via his booming social media presence.  One could argue that his summer-long exposé of the migrant crossings inspired broadcast media into similarly taking to the seas, albeit with a starkly contrasting narrative.  In the last couple of months he has begun to focus more and more on the devastating economic crisis our country is facing as a result of the Covid restrictions.

While the middle classes seem to enjoy the lockdowns - working from home, getting everything delivered and soaking up the mainstream media propaganda that nothing but death awaits them outside - the working class experience is altogether different.  At the end of the day it's the workers who will bear the brunt of this crisis, as they always do during economic downturns - except this is more than just a downturn.  This is catastrophic on a scale that none of us alive today have ever seen and one that these largely middle class 'I'm alright Jack' lockdown enthusiasts appear oblivious to because they can't see past the fear of God that's been put into them by the likes of the BBC.

BTLP does not endorse the Brexit Party or whatever it chooses to call itself.  We have never endorsed any political party in our five and a half year existence nor do we intend to do so in the future.  However, the actions of the current UK government (and those of the various devolved administrations) have become so damaging, unwarranted and ill-judged that we simply cannot merely shrug our shoulders because we are devoutly non-partisan.  On that basis we do support the actions of the Covid Recovery Group of MPs who are seeking to stop this madness and we also endorse the following message by Nigel Farage...

If you disagree with our stance that's fine, we (used to) live in a democracy.

You can follow Nigel Farage on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

FARAGE FOR REFORM

Nigel Farage will announce today that the Brexit Party is to be rebranded Reform UK.  The change has been expected for a while, but the ongoing Covid restrictions are thought to have prompted the timing.  Although the application for the name change is said to have preceded Boris Johnson's lockdown u-turn, the party will focus its energies on providing an anti-lockdown voice.  This civil liberties ticket should be a short term winner, particularly seeing as there is not a single party in Westminster voicing any opposition to lockdown.

Farage echoed the sentiments of a growing number of Brits in a video released yesterday on his social media channels.  Speaking from Washington DC, where he is supporting Donald Trump's re-election campaign, Farage said the lockdown cure is 'worse than the disease'.  Is he right or wrong?

A resurgent Farage political vehicle could be a devastating blow to Keir Starmer in 2024, as it was to his predecessors Jeremy Corbyn in 2019 and Ed Miliband in 2015.  Contrary to popular belief, both UKIP and the Brexit Party did huge damage to Labour electorally.

The Tory vote across the Red Wall in 2019 barely moved, but they took seats from Labour because Labour lost votes.  But where did those votes go, if not to the Conservatives?  The overwhelming majority went to the Brexit Party, as they did to UKIP in 2015.  Note that both these elections resulted in a Tory majority, whereas the 2017 election did not.

2017 was post-EU referendum and both main parties pledged to respect the result.  The huge UKIP vote from 2015 - almost 4 million votes with a 12.6 per cent share - crashed to less than 600,000 and a 1.8 per cent vote share.  Those voters did not flock to the Conservatives, they returned to the Labour fold and were a significant factor in wiping out Theresa May's majority.

In 2019, with Brexit under threat, many of these voters deserted Labour again.

Farage is no threat to the Tories, in fact he is one of their greatest weapons.

WELSH BREXITEER MOCKS BUTLER

The Dawn Butler circus will have gone down like a lead balloon with the overwhelming majority of British people.  Even the heavily edited version of her confrontation with Met officers shows that she is an entitled snob whose uppity arrogance will resonate with barely anyone beyond middle class Remainers who have embraced the Black Lives Matter anti-police Marxist narrative.  Sir Keir Starmer has naturally endorsed Butler's concerns, as have her comrades in the Socialist Campaign Group.  The likes of Corbyn, McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon and Sultana are in that group.  Enough said.

Her humiliation of those police officers is going to backfire spectacularly in the working class communities Labour can't afford to alienate any further.  While it's true the Old Bill are not universally revered, the sight of an MP using her privilege to speak down to people of any profession is a huge misfire.  This was perhaps best exemplified by a video made by a Welsh politician on Monday night.  Richard Taylor, a former Brexit Party candidate, was on holiday in Spain when the Butler story broke.  He responded in hilarious, but cutting fashion (watch below).

Mr Taylor knows a thing or two about the police, having been convicted of dozens of offences in his youth.  Having found Christianity while serving one prison sentence, the Llanelli native turned his life around.  A lifelong Labour voter, he was converted to the Brexit Party last year and stood in the general election.  He came second in Blaenau Gwent behind the Labour candidate, slashing the Labour majority by more than 3,000 and easily saving his deposit by securing more than 20 per cent of the vote - one of the best Brexit Party results in the country.

Mr Taylor is now a member of a party committed to abolishing the Senedd - the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party.  The party campaigns for a return to direct rule, arguing that only one in four people voted for the assembly back in 1997.  If Covid-19 teaches us anything, it's that things were definitely a lot simpler in the UK before New Labour introduced devolution!

Richard Taylor pictured with Nigel Farage last year

FOX HITS OUT AT IDENTITY POLITICS

In the latest of Steven Edginton's in-depth interviews for The Sun he speaks to the Brexit Party's Claire Fox.  Fox gives her take on Black Lives Matter, speaking as someone who began her political journey as a communist and has over the years held some pretty reprehensible views herself.  Fox says that the BLM movement have sought to stifle people's ability to speak freely and anyone who doesn't toe their line is automatically designated a racist.  One of the tactics they deploy to silence their opponents is the daft notion of 'white privilege', which Fox rubbishes: "How can you have white privilege if you're a homeless white person?"

Fox goes on to demolish the left's divisive agenda and asserts that 'McCarthyite' identity politics is doing immense damage to the cause of fighting racism.  She's not wrong there.  She also discusses the silence over Muslim grooming gangs and says that the fear of being called racist meant that the victims were abandoned by the establishment.  This was in itself a form of racial discrimination against the victims.

Watch the full interview below (1hr 3min)

If you haven't seen Edginton's interview with Douglas Murray on the rise of BLM you can see it here.

ANOTHER SPITEFUL REMOANER

The caretaker leader of the Lib Dems has reported Nigel Farage to the police after Farage tweeted a photo of himself down the boozer on Saturday.  Farage's local pub re-opened at midday and at 12:23 - nearing the end of his first pint - the Brexit Party leader tweeted that he was the first customer through the door.  However, it didn't take his critics long to point out that Farage was in the US just two weeks ago and may have been breaking the 14 day quarantine rules by visiting the pub.  Three hours later Ed Davey tweeted to say he had written to Kent Police to ask for an investigation into the matter.  In the meantime Nigel had defiantly tweeted again to inform his detractors that he'd been back in the UK two weeks and had tested negative for the virus.

The ensuing frenzy set Twitter alight and the name 'Farage' was trending all afternoon.  While it does appear that he's guilty of breaking the rules, even if only by a matter of hours, many lashed out at Davey over what was seen as a petulant move.

Of course we all know why he did it.  The Brexit-hating Lib Dems are so bitter and twisted they will take any opportunity to attack those who engineered Britain's EU departure.  They were vociferous in their calls for the head of Dominic Cummings, but strangely silent over the lockdown adventures of Tory minister Robert Jenrick.  Whereas Cummings was a main player in Vote Leave, Jenrick backed Remain in the referendum.

Davey was also scathing about another prominent Vote Leave figure less than two weeks ago - the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.  In a BBC interview Davey slammed Raab after he said he wouldn't 'take the knee' for Black Lives Matter.  Davey demanded that Raab issue a 'fulsome apology' and take the knee.  He and his Remain chums would love that.  Ed Davey is so bitter, not only about losing the referendum itself, but watching his party totally crushed at the Brexit decider - the 2019 general election.

In going after Nigel Farage, Ed has also opened himself up to accusations of hypocrisy.  In an article on his website posted on June 6 he threw his full support behind BLM and suggested that 'actions speak louder than words'.  So why then is it OK for thousands of people to flood the streets during lockdown, but one man sitting in a pub on his own must be prosecuted?  Do tell Sir.

LIB DEM OWN GOAL

The Lib Dems, remember them?  Just over five years ago they were in government.  Now they have 11 MPs.  They are currently choosing their fifth leader in five years and a snazzy Twitter account was set up to follow the contest.  The competitors, if anyone cares, are Sir Ed Davey and that one with the black spectacles who looks like a headmistress.  On Thursday the Twitter account in question published a poll asking whether people would vote to rejoin the European Union.

It didn't go well for them.

While it's never pleasant to kick someone while they're down, in the case of remoaners who just can't accept defeat more than four years on - fair game.  Former Brexit Party MEP Martin Daubney led the pile on...

It's clear that the Lib Dems will not be moving on any time soon and will quite possibly disappear from the House of Commons altogether at the next election.

THE 'SOCIAL WORK PARTY'

Back in February the Brexit Party's Claire Fox took part in a debate that included Labour's Faiza Shaheen.  The full debate can be found here, but of particular interest is Fox's assessment of how the modern Labour Party treats the working classes it was designed to represent.  She ties in Brexit as a prime example of how Labour lost the workers and lost the general election.

Watch below for her superb analysis.

FLAG REACTION VINDICATES LEAVE VOTE

Nigel Farage's final act of defiance in the European Parliament provoked exactly the kind of reaction he would have wanted.  As he finished off his speech and began waving a small Union flag, the Vice President of the Parliament cut off his microphone and demanded that the Brexit Party's flags be removed.  The party's MEPs were then ordered out.

The fact that national flags are banned inside the chamber just goes to show how totalitarian the EU project is.  The contempt shown towards our national flag was plain for the world to see and, once again, the Leave vote was vindicated.

While the Vice President was very clear about the rules on flags when Brexit Party MEPs were brandishing them, she appeared to turn a blind eye when Labour MEPs were waving their Union flag scarves around.  In the final sitting for British MEPs many Remainers were wearing scarves emblazoned with a Union flag and a EU flag.  As the chamber erupted in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne, some MEPs began waving them in the air like they were at a football match.  No sanction.  Funny that.

Labour MEP Rory Palmer waves a scarf in the chamber

CAMPBELL OUTFOXED

Alastair Campbell clashed with the Brexit Party's Claire Fox on the BBC's Politics Live earlier today.  Never one to miss an opportunity to bash Brexit, Campbell bizarrely claimed that our departure from the EU would help to destabilise the Middle East still further.  Shocking arrogance from Campbell, but Fox was swift to point out that the biggest destabilising factor in the region in was the Iraq War.  He laughed off her comments as only a true psychopath could, having contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with his dodgy Iraq dossier...

LABOUR DEFACE BREXIT POSTERS

Some very determined Labour supporters have been busy in the dead of night tearing down or defacing dozens of Brexit Party posters in the Ackworth district of Wakefield.  How do we know they were Labour?  Well, they didn't touch Jon Trickett's posters...

Trickett's team are clearly rattled by the presence of the Brexit Party and they have good reason to be.  His Hemsworth seat returned a whopping 68% Leave vote in 2016 and the Remainer MP has already seen his majority drop from a 24,000 high in 1997 to little more than 10,000 in 2017.  The Brexit Party are expected to come a strong third in Hemsworth and will be the deciding factor in whether the seat goes Conservative for the first time in its 101-year history.

The YouGov MRP model that correctly predicted the 2017 hung Parliament has the seat down as a "lean Labour hold", but Labour fear the Brexit Party will take enough votes from them to hand victory to the Tories.  Dirty tricks such as vandalising opponents' posters is surely another way in which to alienate your voters.

Brexit Party candidate Waj Ali had put many of the posters up himself

Hemsworth candidates 2019

Jon Trickett (Lab)

Louise Calland (Con)

Martin Roberts (Yorks)

James Monaghan (Lib Dem)

Waj Ali (Brexit)
Lyn Morton (Green)
Pete Wilks (Ind)
Ian Womersley (Ind)

Hemsworth general election 2017

Jon Trickett (Lab) 25,740 (56.0%) +4.7%
Mike Jordan (Con) 15,566 (33.9%) +11.0%
David Dews (UKIP) 2,591 (5.6%) -14.6%
Martin Roberts (Yorks) 1,135 (2.5%) +0.1%
Mary MacQueen (Lib Dem) 912 (2.0%) -1.2%

PRESTON MUPPET

Preston was trending on Twitter on Monday night, although it had more to do with the visit of West Bromwich Albion than anything else.  However, a young Labour councillor managed to get in on the hashtag with a rather daft video in which he appeared to mock some Brexit Party activists in the town.  He found it somehow "ironic" that the party was campaigning outside a German shop.  Many Twitter users were quick to point out that the leader of the Brexit Party is married to a German and were understandably flummoxed as to what his point actually was.

The Brexit Party were campaigning outside a German Kebab shop in Preston today.

How ironic. pic.twitter.com/Iuki6Cktm7

— Freddie (@FreddieBailey96) December 2, 2019

We're not leaving Europe Cllr Bailey - that is physically impossible - we're leaving the political and increasingly colonialist construct of the European Union.  Of course, we're only leaving as long as your party is kept on the opposition benches.

Preston candidates 2019

Mark Hendrick (Lab)

Michele Scott (Con)

Neil Darby (Lib Dem)
Michael Welton (Green)

Rob Sherratt (Brexit)

Preston general election 2017

Mark Hendrick (Lab) 24,210 (68.0%) +12.0%
Kevin Beaty (Con) 8,487 (23.8%) +3.9%
Simon Platt (UKIP) 1,348 (3.8%) -11.6%
Neil Darby (Lib Dem) 1,204 (3.4%) -0.3%
Anne Power (Green) 348 (1.0%) -3.9%

Preston EU referendum 2016

56% Leave

CAN TICE TAKE HARTLEPOOL?

The Brexit Party's Richard Tice, pictured in Hartlepool

With Nigel Farage not standing in this election, the decision to parachute party chairman Richard Tice into Leave-voting Hartlepool appears to be a clear message of intent.  Tice told reporters earlier this month that the Brexit Party "plan to win and win big" in the town.  It's no wonder that his party has chosen Hartlepool as a key target.  They are the joint largest party on Hartlepool Borough Council and have led the council since September, having formed a coalition with the Conservatives.  In 2016 Hartlepool returned one of the strongest Leave votes in the country at almost 70%.  The party romped to victory in the European elections earlier this year.

However, not many are convinced that the Brexit Party can win Hartlepool, let alone anywhere else.  The local Tory chairman responded to Tice's candidature by saying that the Brexit Party had "effectively handed the seat to Labour".  Is he right?  He may well be.

While there is no constituency polling information for Hartlepool there was a recent poll conducted for the seat of Great Grimsby.  Like Hartlepool, Grimsby is a northern coastal town whose fishing industries have declined over the years, due in no small part to our membership of the EU.  Both have returned Labour MPs since the middle of the last century and both voted Leave by huge margins.  However, the Survation poll suggested that the Brexit Party would trail both Labour and the Tories by a long way.

Great Grimsby polling intention (Survation, 14-15 Nov)

Con: 44% (+2%)
Lab: 31% (-18%)
Brexit: 17% (New)
Lib Dem: 4% (+1%)
Green: 3% (New)

(increase/decrease based on 2017 result)

If this poll was repeated at the general election a whopping 17% from nowhere would be an otherwise stunning result for any party.  However, this is a seat that the Brexit Party would be looking to win, not merely come a strong third.  While it could be argued that the party's higher profile campaigning in Hartlepool may swing it for them, it's difficult to see it happening.  If you look at Great Grimsby what appears to be happening is that the Labour vote is collapsing and transferring almost entirely to the Brexit Party.  The result is potentially a Tory gain with just a small swing.

Let's say that something very similar happens in Hartlepool, but perhaps the Brexit Party takes even more votes off Labour.  Imagine that the Tories replicate that tiny swing also.  What would happen in that scenario is Labour would hold Hartlepool with a much smaller majority.  The Brexit Party would almost certainly finish third, albeit an impressive result for a brand new party.

In summary, the Tory chairman is wrong to blame the Brexit Party if his party doesn't win Hartlepool.  Electoral history here suggests the Tories have no right to take this seat anyway.  The town has not returned a Conservative MP since 1959, so no-one is really 'handing the seat to Labour' and in any case, the Brexit Party is demolishing the Labour vote - not the Tory vote.  Like many other northern, Midland and Welsh seats at this election, a Brexit Party presence may actually help the Tories, not hinder them.

In an ideal world the Tories would have stood down in places like Hartlepool and given the Brexit Party a free run at Labour.  Sadly the Conservatives would not entertain a 'Leave Alliance' in the same way that the Lib Dems have arranged a 'Remain Alliance' with the Greens and Plaid.  Will this failure ultimately open the door to a Labour/SNP nightmare coalition?  We'll soon find out.

Hartlepool candidates 2019

Mike Hill (Lab)
Stefan Houghton (Con)
Richard Tice (Brexit)
Andy Hagon (Lib Dem)
Kevin Cranney (Soc Lab)
Joe Bousfield (Ind)

Hartlepool general election 2017

Mike Hill (Lab) 21,969 (52.5%) +16.9%
Carl Jackson (Con) 14,319 (34.2%) +13.3%
Phillip Broughton (UKIP) 4,801 (11.5) -16.5%
Andy Hagon (Lib Dem) 746 (1.8%) -0.1%

BREXIT PARTY VS MORRISONS

Footage emerged today of a Brexit Party candidate being physically prevented from entering a Morrisons supermarket in Manchester.  The video shows Martin Power, the party's candidate for Denton and Reddish, repeatedly trying to enter the store, but being pushed back by both a security guard and a member of the public.  Mr Power is told by the two men to "f*** off" several times while being manhandled, shoved and eventually thrown to the ground.  At this point he gives up and walks away before explaining to a shopper what had happened.

Mr Power was clutching a wad of leaflets, but in the video he tells the security guard repeatedly that he just wants a cup of tea.  A spokesperson for Morrisons claims that Mr Power had been handing out leaflets inside the store and customers had complained.  However, the video only shows the candidate approaching the store and there is no suggestion that he has been previously removed.  Would someone seriously campaign inside a supermarket?  As he himself points out, it was more likely that he was handing out leaflets near the store and someone complained, leading to the overzealous actions of the security guard.  Watch the full video below.

Denton & Reddish candidates 2019

Andrew Gwynne (Lab)

Iain Bott (Con)
Dominic Hardwick (Lib Dem)

Gary Lawson (Green)
Farmin Lord F'Tang F'tang Dave (Loony)
Martin Power (Brexit)

Denton & Reddish general election 2017

Andrew Gwynne (Lab) 25,161 (63.5%) +12.7%
Rozila Kana (Con) 11,084 (28.0%) +4.3%
Josh Seddon (UKIP) 1,798 (4.5%) -14.1%
Louise Ankers (Lib Dem) 853 (2.2%) -0.3%
Gareth Hayes (Green) 486 (1.2%) -2.6%
Farmin Lord Dave 1st of Haughton (Loony) 217 (0.5%) New

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 10-16 NOV 2019

10.11.19 - Bob Moran, Sunday Telegraph

10.11.19 - Morten Morland, Sunday Times

11.11.19 - Graeme Bandiera, Yorkshire Post

11.11.19 - Morten Morland, The Times

11.11.19 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph 

11.11.19 - Steve Bright, The Sun

12.11.19 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

12.11.19 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

12.11.19 - Morten Morland, The Times

12.11.19 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph 

13.11.19 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

13.11.19 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

13.11.19 - Peter Brookes, The Times

14.11.19 - Bob Moran, Daily Telegraph

14.11.19 - Peter Brookes, The Times

15.11.19 - Bob Moran, Daily Telegraph

15.11.19 - Dave Brown, Independent

15.11.19 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

16.11.19 - Bob Moran, Daily Telegraph

16.11.19 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail

SORRY LEN, BUT YOU ARE A REMAIN PARTY

Prior to the Labour conference Len McCluskey was the only trades union leader to resist a second EU referendum.  A northerner himself he could see how damaging such a policy would be for the party in the Labour Leave heartlands.  McCluskey and his Unite union had to be dragged kicking and screaming into supporting the idea at Labour's party conference.  Now the party is committed to another referendum he is having to make the best out of a bad situation.  It's not an easy position to defend, granted, but this week he desperately implored the working classes not to vote for the Brexit Party and outright lied about Labour's fake 'people's vote'.  "Labour is not a Remain party" he repeatedly told the BBC this week.  However, we now know that Labour's referendum would be a 'choice' between Remain and a newly negotiated deal that keeps us tied to all of the institutions of the EU.  There will be no Leave option.

In many northern seats the presence of a Brexit Party candidate is not going to hinder the Tories, it's going to help them.  Most of those intending to vote Brexit Party are not traditional Tory voters, they are traditional Labour voters and Len knows this.  Hence his desperate plea.  Nigel Farage is also well aware of this situation and has quite rightly pointed out that the Labour 'surge' of 2017 was helped in no small way by the collapse in the UKIP vote.  Hundreds of thousands of pre-referendum UKIP voters switched back to their traditional Labour vote post-referendum.  As we have not left the EU there will be plenty of Labour Leave voters considering a vote for the Brexit Party and thereby tipping the balance in some northern marginals.

We must continue to remind people of the false choice of Labour's second referendum.  Sorry Len, but when you're offering Remain vs Remain the workers are left with no illusion that you're a Remain party.

LABOUR FINALLY RELENT TO ELECTION DEMAND

December could see the back of Corbyn, complacency could be fatal

Jeremy Corbyn has this morning relented to a general election demand at the fourth time of asking.  Perhaps the penny finally dropped that Labour's reluctance to face the electorate is not going down well with voters.  MPs will debate the timing of the election later today and they are literally going to haggle over whether it takes place on the 11th or the 12th of December.  Elections traditionally take place on a Thursday in this country, but the Lib Dems and SNP are demanding that it takes place on a Monday, while the government is reportedly willing to compromise on a Wednesday.  Nuts.

Lots of people are excitedly gloating about the prospect of Corbyn's party being slaughtered.  This is  dangerous, arrogant and extremely naive.  The Tories were all set to demolish Labour in 2017 and increase their majority.  In the end the Tories lost their majority.  Short memories folks.  There is only one way to ensure Labour gets a hammering in December and that is through a Leave Alliance.  Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage hold the key to the future of this nation in their hands.  They can either embrace the opportunity and consign comrade Corbyn and his abhorrent ideology to the political dustbin, or risk the nightmare of a far left Labour government backed up by the SNP.

Make no mistake, this forthcoming election is not a foregone conclusion.

JOHN MANN RESIGNS

John Mann has today resigned as an MP, clearing up any confusion that followed his comments towards the end of last week.  He will take a seat in the House of Lords and begin his new role as the government's 'anti-Semitism tsar'.  He has already adjusted his Twitter profile to reflect his new status (see below).  It appears that he won't take up the Labour whip in the Lords and will sit as a crossbench peer.

Asides from the loss of one more pro-Leave voice from the Commons it means that a by-election will take place in Bassetlaw, assuming that a general election is blocked from taking place this year.  Labour would be defending a majority of less than 5,000 in a strong pro-Leave seat.  However, if the Tories and Brexit Party both stand it doesn't take a genius to work out what will happen (as it did in both Peterborough and Brecon).  Boris, Nigel - it's time to talk and get a Leave Alliance up and running.

Bassetlaw general election 2017

John Mann (Lab) 27,467 (52.6%) +3.9%
Annette Simpson (Con) 22,615 (43.3%) +12.6%
Leon Duveen (Lib Dem) 1,154 (2.2%) −0.5%
Nigel Turner (Ind) 1,014 (1.9%) New

Bassetlaw general election 2015

John Mann (Lab) 23,965 (48.6%) -1.8%
Sarah Downes (Con) 15,122 (30.7%) -3.2%
Dave Scott (UKIP) 7,865 (16.0%) +12.4%
Leon Duveen (Lib Dem) 1,331 (2.7%) -8.5%
Kristopher Wragg (Green) 1,006 (2.0%) New

DE PIERO'S POLL SNIPE

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero is no fan of Jeremy Corbyn, but she revealed just how deep that resentment goes with one click yesterday.  Over on Twitter we noticed that she'd liked a new Opinium poll that suggested Labour had slipped a further three points behind the Tories.

De Piero is standing down at the next election citing a "lack of tolerance" in the party, so she clearly has nothing to lose now.  She was also one of the 19 rebels who voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement last week.  Once again the Labour trolls appear incapable of realising that actions have consequences.

De Piero's constituency is definitely one to watch when the next election comes around.  Ashfield is the top marginal in Nottinghamshire and returned a whopping 70% Leave vote in 2016.  Labour should be dead certs to lose this seat at the next election, except they almost certainly won't.  The Brexit Party have identified this as one of their top targets, selecting prominent MEP Martin Daubney as their candidate.  They will do well, but will split the Tory vote so much that Labour will probably increase their majority, rather than lose the seat.  This is just another fine example of why it is vital that Boris comes to his senses and does a deal with the Brexit Party.

Ashfield general election 2017

Gloria De Piero (Lab) 21,285 (42.6%) +1.6%
Tony Harper (Con) 20,844 (41.7%) +19.3%
Gail Turner (Ind) 4,612 (9.2%) New
Ray Young (UKIP) 1,885 (3.8%) -17.6%
Bob Charlesworth (Lib Dem) 969 (1.9%) -12.9%
Arran Rangi (Green) 398 (0.8%) New

FARAGE MEETS LIDDLE

"I would never ever vote Labour with Jeremy Corbyn in charge for a whole bunch of reasons, mainly his opposition to everything that Britain stands for and his friendship with almost everybody who hates Britain".

(Rod Liddle)

Nigel Farage is very busy on social media at the moment and has introduced another regular video feature - 'Stepping Up With Nigel Farage'.  This follows his 'Talk of the Week' feature that he debuted recently.  In the first edition of Stepping Up the Farage speaks to the Spectator's Rod Liddle.  The 40 minute chat is a very enlightening exploration of Liddle's political journey.  This is a journey that has led him from the far left of the Socialist Workers Party, through membership of the Labour Party and working for the BBC, to the Spectator, voting Conservative and becoming a vociferous opponent of mass immigration, multi-culturalism and Islamism.  This is a very interesting discussion, not least the middle bit where they talk about the 2017 general election, Corbyn, the proposed 'caretaker government' and Brexit.  Watch the full interview below, including Liddle's pop at Jess Phillips near the end.

PHILLIPS vs PHILLIPS

Victoria Derbyshire interviewed four politicians outside Westminster yesterday, including Brexiteers Frank Field and the Brexit Party's Alexandra Phillips.  Also present was loudmouth narcissist Remainer Jess Phillips and sparks inevitably flew as she spoke over, interrupted and was generally very rude to both Brexiteers.

Alexandra is spot on about Jess's constituency - Birmingham Yardley returned a 60% Leave vote.  For once there was no annoying blue-hatted megaphone-blaring loon in the background.  One assumes he was still making his way back from the Labour conference.