To achieve not one but two second places will be a morale booster for UKIP, although the result is already being presented out of context by the leadership. Members might ask, if this is a sign of the party's popularity, why two candidates nobody has ever heard of have done far better than a party leader who is effectively the face of UKIP.
Note also that the BNP acheived a third place. I consider the BNP to be a busted flush, and so that particular result tells us a great deal about voter's attitudes to the 3 main parties at the moment.
Context and perspective are everything in psephology (the study of election results).
But the one thing that did make me feel good was the candidacy of Andy Stranack in Croydon. (Steve Reed was always going to get that, he is a popular local politician, and will be a good constituency MP I think). Stranack did the best of all the Tory candidates yesterday - I haven't been in London and haven't really followed the details of his campaign - but the fact that he suffers from Cerebal palsy and has thrown his hat into a real cut-throat arena like this shows some courage. He clearly did not stand to make a statement, he stood with the intention of winning the seat. I hope he gets there next time.
Andy is an inspiration.
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