Raymond Finch

Brilliant Steve.

I know from my canvassing etc just how energising it is.
What is nice is when you get the voter who says something along the lines of "UKIP are standing? About time too."
I love the thought of giving people an alternative. Give them something positive to vote for.
The trick for us is building a voter base and getting our activists regularly working the streets. Once you get over the nervousness, it becomes really quite exhilarating.
The thing is that both of these things become a habit and it will start to snowball when our people realise we are not just a one trick pony and we actually propose to do something for them on the micro level, not just the macro level which a lot of people think is presently insoluble. Once we start appearing regularly in elections we start becoming electable.Once we become electable then we start getting elected. Once we get elected, then we become a threat. Once we become a threat, we gain leverage. Once we gain leverage, we can change things.
Simple really. It is just a case of applying ourselves and working hard on the doorstep.

Popeye

I recently attended a UKIP PPC selection meeting when election fever was in the air - until Bottler decided he probably wouldn't win a November election and promptly called it off. There were two constituencies up for grabs, one being fought over by two contenders and the other by just one. The sole candidate was selected on a landslide vote of 6 - 0, the other by the slightly less emphatic margin of 1 - 0. Happily the beaten candidate accepted defeat gracefully and didn't demand a recount. The problem, though, is obvious: no-one outside the party takes UKIP serously. Not only did almost nobody turn up, but there was also a complete absence of swivel eyed federalists, anti fascists, Marxists, anti racists, veggies, greens and/or Guardian readers besieging the meeting and trying to set fire to those inside in the name of the People, unlike what regularly happens to a certain other party with far greater mass appeal (although nobody admits to supporting them). Until UKIP starts to seriously **** these people off (Ok, veggies are alright, I'm a part time one myself) and starts to appeal to the masses by explaining in detail how the EU and big government is affecting their lives and particularly their pockets rather than banging on about faceless bureaucrats, national vetos and loss of sovereignty it won't get anywhere. So there.

kernow

It's been and is being done! Unfortunately Joe and Jane Public are not listening. Because all three main Parties and most of the media say the EU is a good thing Joe and Jane can't see a problem. Even though UKIP have told them that mass immigration (Which Joe and Jane are against) is solely down to the fact we are a member of the EU!

Popeye

I know, and you're right up to a point. But, where I live we've not been noticeably inundated - and the East Europeans that are here are actually OK, trying to learn English and entertaining us in the pub on party nights with their quaint 1970s dance moves. Where people really are suffering from mass immigration, particularly of the "multicultural" variety, they are more likely to turn to the BNP who promise a much more radical solution than UKIP. When I talk in the pub (we should all have two homes) of the possible future abolition of Parliament, people just say - but "they" won't allow it, not compehending that "they" are the very people who will be doing the abolishing. And people still ask, why if you are so against the EU do you always go to Europe on holiday? Surely you're a hypocrite? People just don't get it. Mention regionalisation, unelected assemblies, Common Purpose etc and the answer is - so what? What we need is a detailed handbook entitled "How the EU affects YOU" packed with specifics like VAT on heating costs, the closure of rural post offices, fortnightly bin collections, home information packs etc. Unless you live in Hull or Grimsby, the fact that the Grocer gave away our fishing grounds to Johnny foreigner to clinch entry to the Common Market has no meaning when you can still quite happily get your fish'n'chips from the chippy opposite the pub for the same price as a pint (until 1.1.2010) of Stella. And talk of the European police state just invites ridicule - do I really think the Germans are going to send round an armed response unit to shoot them if they drop a crisp packet (no - but the Council might, ha ha). Most people don't end up in court and therefore don't appreciate the fine distinction between trial by a state appointed judge with presumption of guilt and trial by jury with a presumption of innocence - and if they do they want to know why the jail population in all other EU countries is less per 1,000 of the population than here (answer - most of the EU criminals have moved to the UK). The trouble is people get used to things and it's only bolshie old ******** like us who get excited at the fact that Kent is now part of northern France for certain unimportant EU administrative purposes, like tourism and culture. Perhaps I drink in the wrong pub (never mind, we'll all be getting personal drink allowances soon to ensure we stay within government/EU guidelines).

g hall

If you standing locally I'm sure that you will be able to find many issues to attack the incumbent

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