So what will be remembered as the biggest political event of spring 2013? Naturally the death of Lady Thatcher must be the prime candidate.
But there is another that has thus far consumed only a tiny proportion of the column inches that have rightly been expended on the passing of the Iron Lady yet may have more pro found and longerlasting consequences.
I speak of the rise and rise of Ukip. The Eastleigh by-election, in which Ukip sensationally beat the Conservatives to second place, has of course registered in the national political consciousness. Ukip’s surge in that contest has already led to the leaders of all three bigger parties toughening up their rhetoric on the issue of immigration in a series of setpiece speeches.
But Eastleigh will, I suggest, turn out to be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The rest of it is not yet visible to the Westminster political class but the more astute among them already have an uneasy feeling that something threatening is out there and closing in on them.
They are right to be worried and today I make this prediction: the local elections on Thursday May 2 will see Ukip make a breakthrough of such significance that all the other parties will be forced to recalibrate plans and policies in the runup to the general election of 2015.
The signs have been everywhere this week for anyone who cared to look for them. First it emerged that Ukip is putting up candidates in more than 1,700 of the 2,400 council seats that are up for grabs.
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