Which party is now more irrelevant, Ukip or the Lib Dems?

Ukip is gathering for its autumn conference in Doncaster, with Nigel Farage delivering the keynote speech later today. Unlike last year’s shindig, which saw the defection of Mark Reckless from the Tories, this year’s conference is likely to be less eventful — for one thing, the party has failed to grow its presence in Westminster. Even its members appear to be demotivated — the Telegraph reports that attendance is ‘significantly low’ and has offered cut-price tickets to entice Kippers to come along. A party spokesman acknowledged:

‘Last year conference was straight after a big election victory for Ukip so it’s not wildly surprising that numbers are down’

Now that an In-Out referendum is on the horizon and the main parties are leading the way, Ukip faces a simple question: why should anyone listen to it? It’s hard not to see them as a throw back to the pre-general election days, when Jeremy Corbyn was still an obscure backbencher.