Sebastian Payne

This week belongs to Theresa May. Although the longest serving Home Secretary in fifty years continues to dodge leadership questions, her movements over the next few days will make it harder to deny that she isn't building up her public profile. Today, she made a genial appearance on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, something she admitted was a 'huge opportunity'. She also adorns the cover of the latest Spectator Life, out this week, where Harry Cole has compiled an extensive profile of May's tribal approach to surviving in Westminster. And on Thursday, she will be the host of the Spectator's Parliamentarian of the Year awards.

Ukip's victory in Rochester has lead to the inevitable question of 'what next?' for the party. Now that Nigel Farage has two representatives in the House of Commons, his main answer is shockingly more MPs. Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless came from the Conservative Party, but there has been much chatter in Westminster about the possibility of a Labour defector. Frank Field and Austin Mitchell are just two of the names that are mentioned. Farage added credence to these rumours by acknowledging he has been in touch with a 'few' Labour people. Speaking to reporters in Rochester this morning, the Ukip leader said: 'I would love a Labour defector because that would reinforce the message as to why we won this by-election yesterday.

Just a few hours ago, Labour's Emily Thornberry was protesting that she had no idea why anyone would take offence at her Tweeting a picture of a Rochester house with three St George flags and a white van. Now, the tweet has ended her front bench career - she has had to resign as Shadow Attonery General Emily Thornberry. Just why was Ed Milband so sensitive? And what will be the fallout of Ukip taking Rochester? James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and myself discuss this in a podcast special.

Mark Reckless has landed himself in the soup over comments he made at hustings last night about what might happen to EU migrants if Britain quit the EU.

Has Ed Miliband found himself on the wrong side of history? In this week's View from 22 podcast, James Forsyth discusses his Spectator cover feature on the plight of progressives with John Harris. With threats from the SNP, Greens and even Russell Brand, Ed Miliband is stuck in a corner, trying to figure out what the Labour Party stands for If he doesn't, the death spiral will continue. With one week to go until the Rochester and Strood by-election, Isabel Hardman examines how Ukip is trouncing the Conservatives in the campaign, putting them on course to have a second MP. The Tories' swagger earlier in the campaign appears to be hurting them now. And Fraser Nelson looks at how marriage is becoming a past time for the rich with  Julie Bindel.

Ukip is still on track to pound the Tories into second place in the Rochester and Strood by-election, but not necessarily at next year's general election, according to a new poll from Lord Ashcroft. The latest polling (see chart above) puts Tory defector Mark Reckless on 44 percent, the Conservatives on 32 percent, Labour on 17 percent and the Lib Dems on 2 percent. Although Reckless looks set to win back the seat he once held as a Conservative next Thursday, this doesn't mean the same will happen at the general election. According to Ashcroft's poll, 36 percent of those who named a preference said they would vote Conservative in 2015 — up four points from the by-election snapshot — 35 percent for Ukip and 21 percent Labour.

Washington, D.C. David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg - the obvious targets to blame for the disillusionment engulfing British politics. But let's not forget the role of the Americans. Thanks to the main Westminster parties’ increasing use of technologies and personalities from Washington, the traditional British forms of electioneering have been gradually abandoned for slick, expensive techniques that have inadvertently allowed more traditional campaigners, the SNP and Ukip for example, to take the establishment by surprise. Despite this, 2015 is set to be the most American election to date.

Mark Reckless dropped a bomb on the Ukip conference in Doncaster today, announcing his surprise defection from the Tories. In this View from 22 special, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss why Reckless switched sides, how Ukip managed to keep the news secret, what it means for the upcoming Conservative Party conference and whether we can expect to see any more defections before May 2015.

Washington, D.C. Ed Miliband met with Barack Obama yesterday, haven't you heard? The British press covered the visit with their usual gusto but the visit barely registered on the radar of American outlets. Out of the country’s most influential papers, neither the New York Times nor the Wall Street Journal wrote a single word about the potential next prime minister of the United Kingdom meeting the president. Miliband wasn't covered on any of the blogs or TV stations either. Only one US paper said anything about the visit.