Britannist

I get the impression from a previous posting you made to this forum that you are a supporter of the leftist pro-EU Green Party. A party which has precisely how many MPs in the Commons? None is the answer.

"Sober analysis" (your words) suggests that Mr. Bob Spink MP starts off as UKIP MP for Castle Point in a better position than did Lord Owen and George Galloway MP after they had quit Labour to stand as candidates for small parties.

George Galloway fought (and won) Bethnal Green for the Respect Party at the last General Election. Lord (David) Owen fought (and won) Plymouth-Devonport for the SDP in 1983 and 1987.

Both Lord Owen and Mr. Galloway fought those seats and won them for the SDP and Respect respectively with those new small parties having no record of fighting those constituencies before they were candidates for those small parties. In other words - they both started from 'zero' when they quit Labour and stood for the SDP and the Respect Party respectively.

At Castle Point (Canvey Island/South Essex), Mr. Spink represents a seat where thousands of people voted UKIP at the last General Election and where a clear majority of voters in the constituency share his concerns about the EU.

Mr. Spink starts off as UKIP MP for Castle Point in a better position than did Lord Owen as SDP candidate (June 1983) or as George Galloway MP did as a Respect Party candidate (May 2005). UKIP had a track-record of fighting a General Election at Castle Point - that was not the case with the SDP and the Respect Party in 1983 and 2005 in the seats of Lord Owen and Mr. George Galloway MP.

If those two can win the first time their small parties contested the seats they went on to represent in the Commons after they quit Labour - Mr. Spink MP can win for UKIP in a seat where UKIP already has experience of fighting a General Election.