kernow

Not in my book! I think we could well double our present MEPs! Proof? I feel it in my water!

Reg Anthony

Anthony, you are mixing up the figures for the constituency seats (3.01%) with those for the London-wide additional members (8.18% in 2004). Sort those out correctly and the picture becomes even more depressing:

- The figure for the constituency seats actually fell from exactly 10% in 2004;

- The figure for the London-wide additional members was actually just 1.9% this time.

It was on this latter figure that we fell to 9th place - yes, ninth - behind the Christian Alliance, Respect and Abolish the Congestion Charge. It is also the figure which paints the truer London-wide picture, because we were one of just seven parties to stand for all fourteen individual constituency seats (though the Christian Alliance stood in thirteen). Respect and the BNP both stood for just one individual constituency seat.

I am very upset by these results. I only clicked "terrible" on your survey because you didn't have an option marked "catastrophic" and, no getting away from it, these results are catastrophic.

We always knew that we were helped in '04 by the London elections being on the same day as the Euro elections, but that does not explain such a huge fall. I think it is worth comparing this year's results with 2000 as well as 2004 and they are even more telling:

- In 2000, we achieved a marginally better figure (exactly 1%) in the mayoral election than we did in 2008 (0.9%).

- In 2000, we also achieved a marginally better figure (exactly 2%) in the additional member vote for the assembly than we did in 2008 (1.9%).

What this means to me is that we have squandered the great opportunity we created in 2004, not only to the extent that we are now back where we started before those elections, but to the extent that we are struggling to match where we were as a little-known party eight years ago.

zbrahead

Erm, kernow, only pregnant women feel things in their water, and even then, that is persuant to their babies being born.

Anthony Butcher

Thanks for the correction. I don't live in London and us country bumpkins don't understand the ways of city folk.

I had assumed that the additional seats were calculated from the remains of the constituency votes.

3% in the constituency votes, which I presume is a measure of actual UKIP support is about what we expected. It is marginally higher than the General Election result. Given that there are far more parties available to vote for, I don't think it is that bad a result. It's poor because of the previous result (10% according to your number), but not wholly unexpected given the different circumstances.

As for the Mayoral vote... that really was abysmal.

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Anthony Butcher

Do you mean up to 18 MEPs or 24?

Either one would take an almighty swing to UKIP, especially because there will be less MEP seats available next time.

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Michael Heaver

While I agree that our London performance was disappointing, I just have this feeling that with Nigel leading us, we are going to absolutely smash the ball out of the stratosphere next year and make British political history in the European Elections.

The Tories have already shot themselves in the foot by p****** off a lot of their members with an unashamedly biased selection system that gave vast preference to female and pro-EU candidates. I know a few Tories as well who are incredibly disgruntled with the Cameron's broken promise in regards to the EPP group in the EU Parliament. This is only going to add to the number of part-time UKIP voters we attracted in 2004. What you have to remember as well is that eurosceptic Tory members in the Party have fewer and fewer reasons to stick around now. Hannan and Helmer, yeah, okay, and a handful of MP's too, but Bob Spink coming over to us will certainly give us more credibility in their eyes. Spink was well respected among the anti-EU Tory collective.

Question UKIP's 'single issue' status all you like, but when it comes to the EU issues, UKIP are the ONLY show in town for informed eurorealists (the number's of which are increasing, from the conversations I have).

I’m going to go out on a limb and say….UKIP come away with 21 MEP’s, with a view to beating the Tories in the EU election after that.

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kernow

You've got me worried!

kernow

Am I right in saying we now have 9 legit ? If so then it would be 18. The local elections were all about trouncing Brown! In my opinion the EU elections will bring us to the fore!

steve fowler

And either way this is becoming our last chance to get joe and jane public to wake up and realise that their freedoms are fast slipping away!.

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RULE BRITANNIA BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES, BRITONS NEVER EVER SHALL BE SLAVE'S.

Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
Winston Churchill.

When Labour won the 1997 General Election, Enoch Powell told his wife that the electorate had voted to break up the United Kingdom.

zbrahead

Bring what to the fore, UKIP is a doomed party.