The Nigel Farage Reform roadshow pitched up in Kent and rolled out all the hits in a typically uncompromising performance. He raided the back catalogue, asserting that it was under his leadership that the government finally took notice of the need to tackle the small boats crisis.
The PM might have squirmed over the decision to place him in front of the Titanic; yet no one bats an eyelid when Farage delivers a speech about the need to repel small boats from a yacht club.
And characteristically, there was to be no apology over remarks he had made claiming that there was a growing number of Muslims who did not subscribe to British values.
It provoked widespread condemnation but he batted away questions about the controversy in his usual bluff style.
The central question many have about the Reform party is its relevance and the likelihood of it winning seats. To which the answers are that now Brexit has passed, its electoral prospects are somewhat diminished and so too are its chances of winning seats under the first-past-the-post system - never that great anyway.
Its position on proportional representation is pretty much shared by the Liberal Democrats but you won’t find either party suggesting they form some kind of non-aggression pact.
The two parties are ideologically so far apart that the idea they might come to some agreement on tactical voting is for the birds.
*Meanwhile, the cranks and pistons of Rishi Sunak’s PR machine are not exactly running smoothly. After being derided for wearing a pair of trainers of a certain global brand, attention focused on a backpack he took with him on a sleeper train to Cornwall that retails at a wince-inducing £750. At least he didn’t wheel out the stylish pair of Timberland boots he wore on a visit to Dover recently that retail at £190.
Presumably, the idea of travelling on a sleeper train was designed to give the impression he was like a regular commuter although like most of these set-ups, there was a certain amount of political spin. He emerged from the train on his own - the various aides and security staff presumably being held back until he’d safely got into a car.
*What is it about the military background of prospective parliamentary candidates that appeals to party members? Perhaps it’s something to do with discipline; or perhaps their attitude to hard work.
Kent has a relatively high number of candidates with some kind of military background and they include the Labour candidate in Dover and Deal Mike Tapp and now the Conservative candidate in the same seat, Stephen James. Both served in the British Army’s National Intelligence Corps - although they did so at different times - and both served in Afghanistan.
Other candidates with a military background are the Tunbridge Wells Lib Dem candidate Mike Martin, a British Army officer who also served multiple tours in Helmand. The Gravesham candidate Adam Holloway, also served in the Gulf War and was commissioned into the British Army’s Grenadine Guards in 1987.
