Isabel Hardman

Will Nick Clegg survive his mauling in the European elections? The front pages this morning don't do the Lib Dem leader any favours - although his main leadership rivals, Tim Farron and Vince Cable, did by pledging their loyalty to him. There is considerable suspicion in the party that the polling on the Guardian front page was commissioned by one of Cable's allies, with or without the Business Secretary's knowledge or approval. It's certainly had more impact than an open letter or pithy op-ed, and whoever the 'Lib Dem supporter' responsible for the leak is, they're certainly not a Nick Clegg supporter. Privately, Clegg has admitted that he wishes his 'party of In' campaign had more nuance on the question of reform so that he didn't sound blindly pro-European.

Conservative MPs and candidates are, it's fair to say, pretty exhausted this afternoon after last-minute campaigning for the local and European elections and all-nighters watching the results come in. But with the Newark by-election drawing closer, they're not flopping into their beds just yet. All candidates have been summoned to a 10am briefing in Newark on Sunday. They were only told on Monday that the meeting was taking place, and that it was compulsory, with Grant Shapps demanding a personal explanation from those who cannot make it. The email says: 'There will be a briefing meeting for everyone on the Candidates List on Sunday 25th May at 10.00 am in Newark, which will be followed by delivering.

Now the waiting begins.

A Prime Minister defending a government policy is usually quite unremarkable. But today David Cameron defended the Government's free school meals policy, and given the amount of vitriol this has attracted between the two Coalition parties in recent weeks, that really is remarkable. He told the World at One: 'I don’t really accept it was made on the hoof because, as I say, it was trialled, a decent amount of time has been set aside for its introduction, £150m… Any change is always difficult and I think you should judge the change as it comes in.

Ukip's we're-not-racist ethnic minority carnival in Croydon always looked as though it was going to provide plenty of material for sketchwriters and critics. It was another attempt by the party to showcase its non-white members and candidates, with local candidate Winston McKenzie on hand too. But the event aimed at spinning a line about the party's open-mindedness spun out of control. The steel band told journalists they didn't know they'd been booked by Ukip, and were pretty unhappy about it too. Then a group of protesters accused the party of being Nazis. Then McKenzie, explaining why Nigel Farage had pulled out of attending the event, described the town he is standing for election in as a 'dump' and 'unsafe' because it had been failed by successive governments.

Mainstream politicians, never known for giving a straight answer, have been giving particularly wibbly and unclear responses to one particular question today. Is Nigel Farage a racist and was what he said about Romanians moving in next door racist? Ed Miliband did pick a particularly tortured definition of what Nigel Farage had said when asked about it on the Today programme. It was a 'racial slur' but Farage is not a racist, or at least, Miliband didn't want to make politics more 'disagreeable' by accusing Farage of being a racist. But he did say that Farage was right to apologise. Helpfully, Nick Griffin pitched in to tell BBC News that Farage wasn't racist, presumably on the basis that it takes one to know one.

The Conservatives are holding another one of their road trips tomorrow, this time to Chester and Cheadle, where about 120 activists and MPs will hold a 'day of action' where they canvass and campaign in the constituency. The last one was in Enfield a few weeks ago, where the sitting MP Nick de Bois is fighting to hold onto his 1,692 majority. The City of Chester is held by Conservative MP Stephen Mosley with a 2,583 majority, while Cheadle is currently a Lib Dem seat, with Mark Hunter sitting on a 3,272 majority and the Tories in second place. Obviously these campaign days help those MPs or candidates fighting in the respective constituencies.