"It is a traditional midterm protest vote and it's found its lightning conductor through UKIP, " Travers said.

NPR: Cameron's Conservatives Suffer In UK Local Votes

"I think you could say she was a very useful lightning conductor, because she was saying things that other people sometimes felt but didn't want to say, " he says.

BBC: Thatcher's fight against German unity

It is both Mr Mandelson's bad luck and his good luck that his beliefs and personality, together with the singular path he has taken to the top, make him the perfect lightning conductor for all these resentments.

ECONOMIST: The meaning of Mandelson