Oh dear. Reform UK has made much of its recent progress. Having lost Rupert Lowe at the beginning of this year, Farage’s forces then gained Sarah Pochin at a stonking set of local elections.

Reform MP James McMurdock has suspended himself as chief whip following a Sunday Times investigation into his misuse of Covid-19 government loans. McMurdock, who has represented South Basildon and East Thurrock since last July’s general election,

Reform MP James McMurdock has lost the whip over allegations against him related to business propriety, the party says. Chief whip Lee Anderson said McMurdock, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, "removed the party whip from himself" pending an investigation into allegations since published by the Sunday Times.