Exit Ukip stage right as Tories build formidable Brexit coalition | Robert Ford

Ukip’s rise took the headlines four years ago, when most of the seats decided on Thursday were last up for election.In 2013, Nigel Farage marched his Eurosceptic rebels up the high streets of England’s home counties, returning a large crop of local councillors in purple colours for the first time.The national vote for Brexit last June accomplished Ukip’s founding goal, and last week its electoral collapse was total.