Anthony Butcher

She sounds perfect for UKIP and would be very popular with the majority of members I think.

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tamashi

Oh I have some very good reasons for anonymity.

OK then I won't give you orders but will ask you to give some verifiable examples. I grade my acceptance of information very carefully according to its source and if I can get independent verification!

Which Chairman? Which Candidate? Which Existing MEP?

Yes, paid servants are involved in the process but my understanding is they do not sit on interview panels if they themselves are potential candidates to avoid any conflict of interest. I would ask you again "Who would do it if not paid servants? These are administrative tasks which is what these people actually paid to do. As regards them also being candidates surely they are experienced campaigners with good knowledge of Party Policy, media savey, well known in their regions and obviously loyal to the party. Sound like ideal candidates to me!

I have lots of areas of competence. One key one is supporting the democratically elected leadership of the party!

Geoffrey Collier

Tamashi: I think that all your questions will be dealt with by Mr Gill at the next NEC.

With an unfortunate history of financial irregularity, the members, and Electoral Commission, must be satisfied that all selection procedures and financial safeguards are in place. From information passed to them for a statutory agency, about an illegal lottery which UKIP conducted for years, the Metropolitan Police are lending us their skills. I am sure that you welcome support of this nature. Very professional and reassuring, just the kind of thing we all want.

Aardvark

I'm sure everything is above board, but Rachel Tingle and Philip van der Elst are on the committee of UKIP Witney in Oxfordshire. They have recently become active in the branch and Rachel is our new Secretary IIRC. They were elected onto the committee on 6th May so must have been members in Oxon at that time.

I am surprised that Rachel is Gloucestershire for the selection process since she is definitely in Oxfordshire for branch membership. I understand that Philip is seeking to be included on the SE candidates list. It is possible I suppose, as the Gloucestershire border is not far away, that it is more convenient to be a member of an active branch close to your home rather than have to drag halfway across a county to meetings.

I am sure that everything was correct at the time of going to print and that there has definitely been no attempt by anyone to be a candidate for a region in which they did not reside at the time of application.

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"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008

Anthony Butcher

I am sure that there will be some people seeking to get on the list in other regions. For example, I can't see many people wanting to be on the North East list; there is almost zero chance of being elected. I can foresee people like Steve Allison perhaps looking to go to the East Midlands... just for example.

Gerard Batten will no doubt have something to say about carpetbaggers.

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Barboo

I don't think it matters. The selection rules say: "Candidates may apply to two regions", so unless they are required to purchase a second home as well as cough up 250 quid for a non-returnable deposit, residing in the region they seek to represent would appear to be unnecessary.

tamashi

I thought it was common knowledge that Steve Allison had applied to East Midlands? My spies tell me that without "out of region" applicants the East Midlands wouldn't be able to fill their list.

Of course giving the parochial nature of UKIP Membership where you live is much more important than ability, experience, knowledge, or indeed anything else and so it will therefore be fairly certain Derek Clark will be lead Candidate and the only other "local" on the list will be Number 2 in East Midlands. Hasn't anyone ever heard

The small mindedness of "local" in national politics amazes me. UKIP are supposed to be a national party but if you happen to be a UKIP member from the North East then your chances of becoming an MEP are almost zero no matter how good you might be because your birthplace disqualifies you from getting selected in a winnable area. Of course UKIP has so many well qualified, experienced, suitable candidates coming forward that it dosn't mater does it!

Aardvark

Barboo, thanks for clarifying the rules, but the list has Rachel Tingle as being from Gloucestershire whilst she lives, I understand, in Oxon. It is indeed irrelevant in national politics where people come from, but it should be clear on their documentation.

Whilst it is true that many supporters of the big parties will, by and large, support a donkey with the appropriate coloured rosette, it is also true that there are people who vote on a persons local connexions. The EU elections will not be one of those elections as party lists are all that matters and the names on them are largely irrelevant.

In all other cases a local connection can swing the last few votes and, in our case, could mean the difference between lost deposits or positioning in relation to other minor parties. Not everyone will support a carpetbagger.

__________________
When in Woking do as the Wokes do.

"I do not wish to form my opinions by thoughtlessly quoting others; I wish others to support their opinions by sensibly quoting me." Paul Wesson (Aardvark) 13th April 2008

tamashi

So it's OK for Steve Allison to be involved in elections for UKIP in London, Scotland, Wales, the North East, the North West, the South East and the Midlands but not acceptable for him to seek to be elected anywhere outside his own region? What about someone who moves from the region of their birth to another region. How long before they are sufficiently "local" to be allowed. Should UKIP adopt a policy of only allowing candidates to stand in the region of their birth? That would stop all these carpet baggers wouldn't it! In fact anyone who has ever left the region of their birth for longer than 24 hours is probably dangerously cosmopolitan and needs to be slapped down. This would make the ideal UKIP candidate someone who has never been father from home than the local shops! Let's have no trouble here, these are local elections for local candidates, there's nothing for you (carpet baggers) here! Can anyone hear banjo music?

Anthony Butcher

I didn't want to state it as fact because there are far too many unsubstantiated rumours. I am sure that there are others looking for 'better' regions too.

While I find that highly unlikely, it doesn't bode well for the party if true.

Sorry, but this is completely wrong. The most important factor is how many leaflets you have delivered

If UKIP had been sensible, it would have picked its ten best candidates (in terms of ability to do the job) and ensured that they were at the top of the list in each of the best regions. Instead they will just leave an unpredictable system of member voting and an already compromised selection system to just sort it out. And will anyone really trust the voting after the last NEC elections, when voting numbers miraculously tripled over all previous years to 41% of the membership, giving Lisa Duffy more votes than Farage received in the leadership election? And in true UKIP style, there wasn't even an investigation to check that all the votes were genuine.

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If you care about what's in your food and where it comes from, then get it labelled!
Label My Food - http://www.labelmyfood.org.uk