This is Staffordshire --IT IS never pleasant to get kicked in the ballot box. And certainly not by two votes. But that is was happened on Friday afternoon to my colleague Gareth Snell, pictured, the smart young Labour Party leader of Newcastle Borough Council.
After a recount, his 772 votes in Staffordshire County Council's Keele, Knutton and Silverdale ward were still pipped by the 774 ballot papers cast for Derrick Huckfield.
It was another triumph for the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip), which took 24 per cent of the vote in Staffordshire – a touch above their 23 per cent national showing.
The Labour Party was happy with its 24 seats in Staffordshire.
But by any measure, last Thursday's haul of 139 new Ukip councillors was a spectacular result for Nigel Farage's party.
There is no doubt this new political landscape will herald changes here in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.
It will mean politicians listening to public concerns, but it will also demand some bravery in sticking up for long-held values.
First and foremost, what last week's vote – on the back of the Eastleigh and South Shields by-elections – revealed was that the attraction of Ukip has now extended beyond disgruntled ex-Tory voters in southern England. And the Ukip posters up in Stoke show it is on the move here in the Potteries too.
Because for all Nigel Farage's insider credentials as former public schoolboy turned City trader, his simple brand of populism speaks perfectly to the anger of our age.
What is more, he looks and sounds different. None of the usual red tie and white shirt political camouflage for Farage – instead, a puff on a Rothmans cigarette, a pint of real ale, a pin-stripe suit, and some Spitfire cufflinks (which could go down very well in Stoke-on-Trent).
Then there is the politics. According to Dr Robert Ford of the University of Manchester: "Ukip speaks for a very broad swath of the electorate on two issues in particular: immigration and Europe. The average British voter is very negative about the effects of high immigration levels over the past decade and broadly sceptical of Brussels.'
Allied to this is the broader sense of unease around today – an understandable concern that globalisation and the modern economy is not working for everyone equally.
Whether it is pressurised living standards, stretched public services, the struggle to find a job, manufacturing decline, or concerns over your children's future, Nigel Farage seems to have a clear answer: leave Europe and close the doors on foreigners.
In Staffordshire in the past, these kind of fears would have found a home in the British National Party. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. And while I certainly do not think (as the Minister once suggested) that Ukip supporters are 'closet racists', there is a certain similarity of thought between the parties. At its core is an anger towards modern Britain and a sense of loss over a past that probably never was.
So, how should mainstream political parties respond? First and foremost by pointing out the folly of some of Ukip's policies: more privatisation in the NHS, a flat-tax which would mean plutocrats and potters pay the same rate, and £120 billion of unfunded spending commitments.
Then we should deal with the substantive question of the European Union. In Stoke-on-Trent, of course, this has particular resonance as the English home of Michelin Tyres. As host to a hugely successful European multi-national, the benefits of the single-market are evident in the jobs, apprenticeships, pay-slips and local investment. But Ukip would kiss this all goodbye.
After the EU is the immigration issue. Here, the political parties need to listen much more carefully because there is no doubt that for all the advantages brought by the free movement of labour, unmanaged immigration has hit traditional working-class communities hard. While big business has benefited from high skills and competitive costs, there is evidence of wages being depressed and opportunities being lost for indigenous workers.
The issue cannot be ignored, but the solution is more one of managing migration, enforcing the minimum wage, working with trade unions, prosecuting gang-masters and, above all, raising skills as it is of turning our back on Europe.
In short, there is a progressive answer to many of the questions Nigel Farage has asked – and it doesn't lie with Ukip.
The challenge is now on to re-engage with the public and convince them the non-pin-striped politicians have some answers.
For we have now entered the realm of four-party politics – as Gareth Snell unfortunately found out on Friday afternoon. Reported by This is 2 hours ago.