Ukip’s Mark Reckless wins Rochester by-election

Rochester, Kent

Mark Reckless has become Ukip’s second member of Parliament, winning the Rochester and Strood by-election with 16,687 votes – a majority of 2,920 – or 42 percent of the vote. It was a less resounding victory than some in the party were expecting, but Ukip have still managed to return an MP for a far less winnable seat than Clacton – Rochester was 271st on their target list. The Conservatives came a not-too-distant second with 35 percent, with Labour far-more-distant 17 percent and the Liberal Democrats way behind the Greens with a pathetic 349 votes. It was a pretty low turnout: 51 per cent. [datawrapper chart=”http://static.spectator.co.uk/RMmcR/index.html”] Overall, it has not been a good night for any of the main Westminster parties. The Conservatives, who ‘thew the kitchen sink’ at the election in the words in Nigel Farage, failed to see off the Ukip threat and saw their vote share drop 14 percent. Labour, who held Rochester until 2010 with under slightly different boundaries, have seen their vote halved since the last election. And the Liberal Democrats’ vote share has dropped over 90 percent since the last election. Yet again, it has been another by-election where their deposit has been lost. I’ve been in Rochester all night – Nigel Farage has been in a buoyant mood saying a Reckless win means ‘all bets were off’ for the general election. In his rather dull acceptance speech, Reckless reiterated the key Ukip line from election day: ‘If we can win here, we can win across across the country.’ He added ”if you vote Ukip, you get Ukip.’ There are now two pending issues for Ukip to face: can they hold Rochester at the general election, given Reckless’ slimmer-than-predicted majority? The Conservatives are confident they will be able to retake the seat in 2015 — Lord Ashcroft’s polling during the campaign they have a chance — but Ukip and Reckless will be working hard to ensure Rochester remains purple. Secondly, what happens to any future defectors? Farage has been coy about the possibility of more MPs coming over to Ukip in the near future but has said repeatedly here at the count that ‘there will be no more by-elections.’ Any of those thinking of following in the footsteps of Reckless will have to wait until May to be elected by their constituency as Ukip MP. And that will be a far trickier task.