girlfriday

Like it or not (May the Forth be With You), UKIP has lost, and may well continue to lose, support to the BNP on the anti-immigrant vote, after all, UKIP never really had it anyway. If it is not careful, it could also lose future support to the BNP (or others) on the anti-EU issue. UKIP simply does not campaign very well, and is largely dependent on stunts and gimmicks to attract media attention (whether self-made or not).

It would only take a prominent BNP candidate to win a seat in such a way, perhaps with an absolute majority or even, heavens to think, a Westminster seat, for them to get sufficient air-time comparable to the Respect wind-bag Galloway, for the BNP's wider policy areas to be scrutinised by the press and become common knowledge amongst the electorate. In a relative of mine's local ward, the BNP continually put out a general policy statement covering everything under the kitchen sink, and this message is repeated two or three times a year OUTSIDE of any election.

UKIP fails miserably to inform the electorate of its other policy areas, either in depth or generally, and tends to concentrate on a handful of select statements that show intent, but not direction.

I'll be glad when it's the 5th.

Hereward the Wake

I agree, probably UKIP gains most of its support from the euroskeptic centre right, who are sick of Clarks fanatical eurofedralism and Camerons lack of principals, rather than radical thatcherites. So I feel moving to the extreme right would be a mistake.


We should be concentrating our attack on the 3 major partys, where most of our votes will come from. Attacking the BNP will give us a poor return for our effort. I am standing in an inner city ward but, like most of our candidates, have no BNP opponent.

Britannist

On a slightly separate point - I used to wonder if this man Galloway might be eurosceptic. However, listening to him on the radio a couple of weeks ago it became clear through comments he made that he was not :evil: .

He is some sort of europhile. Consequently I'm not sorry to see that the latest YouGov poll (Daily Telegraph last Friday) gives his Respect Party a zero rating :shock: .

The only advantage of Galloway is that his party takes anti-Iraq war votes from the hideously europhile Liberal 'Democrats' - and Galloway won his seat in the Commons from a committed europhile Labour MP.

I want to see ALL pro-euro political parties do badly :twisted: .

Britannist

UKIP might gain some votes from the BNP in the May 2006 local elections. Last Friday, YouGov gave the BNP a national poll rating of 8%. But the BNP are fielding candidates in only a small number of the overall number of local wards being contested.

It may be that some supporters of the BNP may vote UKIP when they turn up at the polling stations and find that the BNP is not on the list of candidates on the ballot paper.

This could, of course, work the other way around, too. Some UKIP supporters - who may have intended to vote Conservative in the absence of their own party (UKIP) fielding a candidate in their particular wards (i the May 2006 local elections) - may choose to vote BNP in protest at David Cameron (the current Conservative leader) having a go at UKIP earlier this month.

Intbel

Britannist wrote: Er ... I don't remember exactly what Britannist wrote ...

But ... you really do hate the Lib Dems don't you?

Britannist

The Fiberal Dimoprats (Liberal 'Democrats') are vermin.

I have seen how they campaign - they rightly have the worst reputation in British politics.

They are europhile and many voters are quite unaware of this.

The more we expose the Fib Dims for what they are - the more they'll lose votes.

UKIP should be the 'third party' in the Commons - not this pathetic bunch of anti-British amateurs and oddballs that call themselves the Liberal 'Democrats'.