Tony Bennett

This paragraph comes tonight in an article on 'Times Online' about the prospects for Richard Barnbrook, the BNP candidate for London Mayor and for a seat on the London Assembly.

UKIP's failure to capitalise on its successes of 2004 looks like it will allow the BNP to take a seat on the Assembly:

BNP man Richard Barnbrook runs the gauntlet as he tries to put his party’s stamp on London - Times Online

QUOTE

The BNP won 4.8 per cent of the vote in the 2004 assembly elections – a whisker below the 5 per cent threshold needed to gain a seat. Since then the UK Independence Party, which won two seats in 2004, has imploded, while the issues of race, immigration and asylum have become ever more potent. The mainstream parties are hardly popular, and in recent by-elections the BNP has consistently won more than 10 per cent of the vote.

UNQUOTE

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For details of comparative votes for UKIP and the BNP this year, see here:

All principal authority by-election results for minor parties 2008

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Millennium3

Immigration is now the most important issue to the voters [44%] - far outstripping all else except crime [40%]. Here we have a third party's objective assessment of UKIP which supports many of the complaints made here against UKIP. I would have thought it was pretty obvious to everyone that NF is not interested in the HofC - the only place where our relationship with Europe can be changed. He is interested in having non controversial policies which will not impede his political career in the, worthless, EU Parliament allowing UKIP to do as well as possible in the EU elections.

Unless some other party does offer policies which meets with the voters wishes they will turn to the racist BNP or take the matter into their own hands as the Dispatches programme predicted.

This of course is yet another golden opportunity for UKIP which will once again be shunned. NF is not interested in getting his hands dirty and dealing with the real problems facing the nation and this will not change whilst he is leader [and beyond because of the power can weld behind the scenes].

It does surprise me that the many capable individuals on this forum who do not expect to gain personally from NF's leadership and are not by nature blind followers continue to bother taking interest in a party which they are not going to change one iota when their energy could be used elsewhere with positive effect.

Alex McKee

I am such a person, I expect. However I genuinely cannot see an alternative to UKIP.

As you are aware Mill3, there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to start a giant-slayer political party. None of them are currently in existence.

UKIP by comparison has done extraordinarily well despite growing out of an extremely unprofessional, extremely marginal group of political activists.

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Millennium3

Despite all of the window dressing, I am sufficiently convinced that NF and his inner circle are not really interested in changing our relationship with Europe. To do this they simply have to have policies which take on the challenges that face the nation in order to get enough votes at a GE to become the third largest party - in the hope of a hung parliament. There have been a number of golden opportunities to respond to deep seated problems that are of real concern to the voters which are simply shunned - the latest being immigration.

As I have said before, the only other, national, anti EU party which is well established is the Liberal Party - which is very democratic. I believe, if enough disaffected UKIP members moved there the show could really get on the road.

Mikeuk

UKIP needs to show that it is fully up to fighting the evil of immigration. Don't forget that we have in the past been home to 'liberals' (I could use a sronger word) who have famoured the swaming of our land with alien cheap labour.

We should speak louder about the need to boot out all illegal immigrants.

Millennium3

It won't happen - NF is not going to court controversy if it means it might rock the boat upsetting his plan to do well at the EU elections. HofC is of no interest to him.

Methinks it is the parties representing the giant corporations that want the cheap labour.

British-Conservatism

The Liberal party could indeed be quite a force if it had the numbers.

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Millennium3

UKIP seems to 'have the numbers' in disaffected members.

kernow

Too many beards and sandals for my taste!

eublues

As Lord Pearson said in the House of Lords recently: UKIP is "the only respectable political party that is telling the British people the truth about the colossal folly of our EU membership."