Alexandra Swann

Yesterday UKIP launched their long-awaited election manifesto, a seventy five page policy document laying out the Eurosceptic party’s proposals for what they would do in government in areas ranging from tax to foreign affairs via crime and culture. Back in

Last night was the first of the greatly anticipated election debates hosted jointly by Channel 4 and Sky News, featuring the Conservative leader David Cameron and Labour’s Ed Miliband. I say “debate” with a pinch of salt; after Cameron’s blatant

There is absolutely no defence for suspended UKIP MEP Janice Atkinson. I’ve tried – really, really hard – but no; through arrogance and stupidity she has landed herself up a certain creek without a paddle or a hope. Last night

“It’s all bollocks!” says UKIP’s David Coburn MEP after finding himself at the centre of the latest political witch hunt; and I’m inclined to agree with him. The pressure is mounting on Scotland’s only elected ‘Kipper after he compared Scottish

What will the five terrestrial broadcasters do when, at the beginning of April, the short campaign of this General Election starts? How on earth will they fill their evening listings when parliament closes down, MPs go back to their constituencies

As governments go, the current Tory-Lib-Dem coalition isn’t the worst we’ve seen. Despite cash for access, a few uncovered affairs, numerous expenses discrepancies and the loss of two MPs to UKIP they are nearing the end of a hastily arranged

Immigration is a well-documented headache for British politicians. According to various polls it is the biggest issue facing the UK, trumping even the NHS, the closest thing Britain has to a national religion. Immigration is constantly brought up on the

I can’t help thinking that the ever increasing bills for “online engagements” are a re-hash(tag)ed tale of the Prime Minister’s New Clothes. Like every self-respecting political activist, I’ve lost uncountable hours trudging around housing estates come rain, shine or inevitably,

The Liberal Democrats have historically positioned themselves as the champion of serious democratic reform, both through changing the voting system to one of proportional representation and by replacing the House of Lords with a fully-elected second chamber comprising considerably fewer

For the first time since the 10 May 2010, the day before Gordon Brown relinquished Number 10 and the Tories jumped into bed with Nick Clegg, I agree with David Cameron. Following yesterday’s announcement by Ofcom, the British broadcasting regulator,

Back in the Blair years it was “Education. Education. Education.” Now, all we hear is “Immigration. Immigration. Immigration.” At least we do from the public; less so from the politicians.  Polls suggest that voters believe that immigration is the biggest

Twitter can be a dangerous tool.  Its democratisation of protest and ability to connect the masses has been regularly documented and the social media platform’s ability to influence is unprecedented.  Tweeting in haste or anger, or indeed, under the influence,

Emily Thornberry had an absolute howler. Forget Rochester, she’s had a full on Weston-super-Mare. In fact, I imagine she might be the only gleam of light on David Cameron’s dark horizon, after an ill-thought-out tweet by the Labour MP provided

It isn’t exactly splitting the atom or even pushing boundaries to suggest that the modern Liberal Democrats are anathema to both liberalism and democracy.  Their commitment to the European Union, ever increasing taxation, neo-Malthusian environmental policies, open door immigration and

Who would have thought that taxis would become the vector for much of the biggest issues facing modern politics? Migration, globalism, societal breakdown, identity… sexual abuse is just one of them. We see the skirmishes between London Hackney Cabs and

How do we value a person’s contribution? Is it by their productive capacity or their productive performance, or is it by the person’s time and intent to contribute? Do we attempt to measure their intrinsic worth as a human being

Of all the opportunities my accidental career in politics and such have afforded me, one of the greatest pleasures remains giving talks to sixth form pupils. This morning I addressed a group of 16-18 year olds at University College School,

Conference season is in full swing.  For a few days each through September and early October, the four main British political parties and their accompanying army of press, lobbyists and the occasional delegate embark en masse to far-flung English cities

This week Scotland voted “No Thanks” to independence, choosing in record numbers to remain part of the United Kingdom.  After a two and a half year campaign and a last-minute leap in the polls, Salmond and his party just missed

Next week Scotland will vote to decide whether or not to break free from the rest of Britain and go it alone as an independent country. The referendum has dominated this week’s news, divided Scotland and caused violence on the

Douglas Carswell has joined UKIP. About bloody time; this is a long awaited move. Carswell has been in closer political alignment to UKIP than to the Conservatives for years; on Europe, on climate change, on localism, on restoring public faith

This year at the Edinburgh Fringe, the joke of the year was from Tim Vine: “I’ve decided to sell my hoover… well, it was just collecting dust.”  But that is not the biggest joke about vacuum cleaners this week. No,

That UKIP is a party of contradictions is news to no one within the bubble, and something I have written about here previously. The party once attracted predominantly former Conservatives, both of small ‘c’ and large ‘C’ ilk.  With the

Charles de Gaulle, the great French war time leader, famously asked “How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?” Well, he gave it a solid shot, but clearly he was unaware of

David Cameron wants to put Britain first.  Not by giving the British people a long awaited referendum on their future in Europe, nor by cutting taxes and protecting civil liberties, but by promising for perhaps the sixth time over the

GLASGOW, UK – The Commonwealth Games have started and I am here in a surprisingly warm and gorgeous Glasgow for the Opening Ceremony. After London 2012 the pressure is on for Scotland: 6500 athletes from 53 countries, 71 if you

Understandably, recent British headlines have been dominated by Prime Minister David Cameron’s sweeping and divisive reshuffle of his cabinet, just ten months away from a General Election that could turn into one of the bloodiest in history. Neither the traditional

What does UKIP stand for? If you ask the members you’ll receive a range of conflicting answers wider than the sun. If you ask the media, half will call us closet racists and the other half will return a snort

Not content with ruining his own country’s economy and seeing some of its best and brightest flee to freer lands, the French President, François Hollande, is trying to spread his own particular flavour of socialism across Europe via everyone’s favourite

What is it with politicians and Mumsnet? I admit, I am an avid reader. I don’t have darling children (DC), I have no intention of ‘TTC’ (trying to conceive) for a very long time, and I certainly don’t have a

It has often been said that Cameron is at his best when his back is to the wall. He thrives in a crisis, but seems less sure footed when the stakes aren’t so high. Yet in the face of the

The European elections are over but the negotiations in Brussels continue as newly elected MEPs jostle for positions in the pan-European groupings. UKIP might have bagged the most votes in the UK but out in Europe they’re finding themselves rather

From the far left to the far right, in Britain, France, Denmark, Austria and Greece, euroscepticism is not merely “on the rise”; it has triumphed.  In Britain, Nigel Farage MEP hailed a political earthquake, the greatest result seen in over