On Thursday evening, with three hours until polls were due to close, I was still campaigning in Rochester and Strood, knocking on doors and asking members of the public to go to their polling station and vote for Ukip. It was already dark out, and I must have traversed thousands of steps to speak to people about our candidate - now our MP - Mark Reckless.

I love campaigning. It is the real “foot soldier” stuff that initially drew me to politics and keeps me here. Listening to people’s concerns about local hospitals and their offensive parking charges, as well as how Britain’s economic recovery hasn’t yet been felt by most people, provides much-needed insight into the lives of those who don’t concern themselves with Westminster-bubble stuff on a day-to-day basis.

Politicians are supposed to be representatives. But you wouldn’t believe how many people told me that despite the enormous ground campaign the Conservative Party were claiming to have, they hadn’t heard a peep from anyone over the entire, prolonged by-election campaign.

I must say I was received rather warmly on the doorsteps. People wanted selfies. They invited me in from the cold, but most importantly they really, desperately wanted to vent their frustrations and hear common-sense solutions to the problems they face in their every day lives. I was humbled to hear that most of them thought that Ukip’s platform was the one they most admired, sympathised with, and in some cases, rejoiced because of.

If you want the secret about how we won in Rochester… there it is. Listening to people, and not just because you have to, because you’re an MP, or MEP or a politico. But because you need to listen to people, to hear what they want, and build these concerns into sensible policy recommendations. No more so is this true of the collapsing Labour vote.

By now most readers of this column will have heard about Labour MP Emily Thornberry’s dreadful tweet, implying resentment of or mocking towards people who own white vans or hang the St George flag from their windows. This is indicative of the modern Labour Party. I’ve called it Ed Miliband’s Gillian Duffy moment – harking back to when Gordon Brown called a Labour voter concerned by mass migration a “bigoted woman”. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is actually worse.

In pictures: Rochester by-election Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Rochester by-election In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Counting gets under way for the Rochester and Strood constituency by-election held at Medway Park, Gillingham, Kent In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Nigel Farage and members of the UKIP team celebrate after Mark Reckless won the Rochester and Strood by-election at Medway Park, Gillingham near Rochester, Kent In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Howling Laud Hope, leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (R) awaits for the by election results in Medway, Gillingham Rochester, Kent In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Kelly Tolhurst, the Conservative Party's candidate in the Rochester's by-election, walks down the town's high street on polling day, in southern England In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Gulpreet Baines (18) sets fire to a United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) rosette, on polling day in Rochester's by-election In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Naushabah Khan, Labour Candidate for the Rochester and Strood by-election is joined by shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher in Rochester on the final day of campaigning ahead of by-election In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election UKIP supporter Graham Harper and his dog Roquie carry a electoral poster supporting UK Independence Party (UKIP) parliamentary candidate Mark Reckless in Rochester, Kent ahead of the by-election poll In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election A customer poll of sweets purchased in favour of the party's contesting the Rochester and Strood by-elecction on display in the Sweet Expectations Sweet Shop in Rochester, Kent, on the final day of campaigning before the by-election later this week In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election David Cameron and Conservative Party candidate for Rochester and Strood, Kelly Tolhurst, talk to Mick Parks, Workshop Foreman at MCL Mechanical near Rochester, Kent, southern England, during a visit ahead of the by-election In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election People stand holding placards against the Britain First party who held a march in Rochester, southeastern England In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Britain First march through Rochester Justin Sutcliffe In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election UKIP parliamentary candidate Mark Reckless campaigns in Rochester on November 4, 2014 Rob Stothard/Getty Images In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election Ed Miliband campaigns with Yvette Cooper (left) and Naushabah Khan before the Rochester and Strood by-election Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election The Britain First march was met by vociferous counter protest Justin Sutcliffe In pictures: Rochester by-election Rochester by-election A UKIP office in Rochester. Rochester and Strood will hold a by-election on November 20th following the defection of Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Mark Reckless to UKIP Rob Stothard/Getty Images

Ms Thornberry not only owns a £3m mansion in trendy North London, but she claims that she’s “never seen anything like it” about the England flags and white van – implying that she rarely ever leaves the cosy constituency of Islington South, where the average income is more than double that of Rochester and Strood – except to grace the halls of the Palace of Westminster, where the basic income is nearly triple that of Rochester and Strood.

So is it any wonder that Ms Thornberry, Mr Miliband, and indeed Mr Cameron have no idea about the real lives of real people?

One man on the doorstep in Rochester told me he had voted Conservative for the past 60 years, but was voting for Ukip yesterday. A young, new voter, who should “typically” have been a Labour voter, told me he was heading out to vote Mr Reckless.