More UKIP chaos as leader Lord Pearson urges people in three Somerset constituencies to vote Conservative and not for the nominated UKIP candidates

I wrote last weekend about the chaos of where UKIP was and wasn't fielding candidates.

Today, the party's strategy appears to have descended further into farce, with the BBC reporting  that their leader, Lord Pearson, has written to a local Somerset newspaper telling people to back the Conservative candidates in Wells, Taunton Deane and Somerton & Frome - namely David Heathcoat-Amory, Mark Formosa and Annunziata Rees-Mogg.

It has been clear for a very long time that all three have robust views on the EU, so why on earth UKIP felt it was in any way advantageous to the eurosceptic cause to oppose them, I don't know - especially as they all have their main opposition as Liberal Democrats, the most federalist party of them all.

However, it is beginning to become academic now, since nominations have closed and it is too late for the candidates to withdraw, not least because postal votes have already been sent out - and the UKIP candidates on the ground seem at odds with their leadership in any case.

Jonathan Isaby