Ukip hopes of a Labour defector rise after ‘white van’ tweet

Cameron loses Rochester by-election after promising to win it – but does Miliband now have most to fear?

The Mole

Ukip, buoyant after their victory over the Tories in yesterday’s Rochester and Strood by-election, are now planning to target potential defectors among Labour MPs. That’s the message coming out of the Ukip camp – and their chances are doubtless improved by the disastrous “white van” tweet by shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry.

Labour leader Ed Miliband moved swiftly to demand Thornberry’s resignation. But as the BBC’s Norman Smith commented this morning, the tweet – a photo of a white van parked outside a home bedecked in St George’s flags, captioned ‘Image from Rochester’ – will be remembered in Labour circles long after their by-election result (third after Ukip and the Tories).

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is the pseudonym for a London-based political consultant who writes exclusively for The Week.co.uk.