Ukip has put all the journalists in a special balcony above the main auditorium at its spring conference. It’s quite thoughtful of the party, as the gallery is right next to the press room where hacks can file, but it also means that they’re a little apart from the delegates. Sitting on the floor of the hall, I overheard a party official talking to a delegate. ‘Those people over there,’ he said, pointing to the gallery. ‘Are here to take the piss.’
To be fair, one of the jobs that the press in this country does very well is to take the mick out of politicians whose bloated egos could do with a little needling from time to time. We are like the little brother who teases his siblings, and in doing so, stops them from becoming a self-important twit. Party conferences of all colours offer excellent opportunities to do this because politicians are at home with their membership, and sometimes when parties get together they can behave a little oddly.
But I suspect that what most of us here today are more interested in is how can Ukip make this spring as good as its autumn.
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