Retiring Tory MP Laura Sandys was well-liked in parliament but an arch-Europhile and a dripping wet, so South Thanet always offered potential for Farage. Now she is standing down there is no incumbency factor either, and a seat-specific poll from Survation has the Tories down 20 points in third place on 28%.
Labour are up in first in 35%, though it is UKIP’s 24 point increase to 30%, just 5 points behind Labour, that is interesting. Arguably most worryingly for Cameron, 78% of UKIP voters said they wouldn’t vote Tory even if there was no UKIP candidate and 52% said they did not care if Miliband became PM. Voting purple puts red in, and the Tories are so far completely failing to convince voters of the consequences…