The Death Rattle of UKIP?
One of the political stories of the year in this country may yet prove to be the final death of the United Kingdom Independence Party. Certainly, they are facing electoral wipeout at the Euro-elections, and the ersatz optimism shown by Farage and the leading lights of the party is not backed up by the polls. The party has been torn apart by infighting and the British people may be about to prove again that they simply do not back divided parties.
And the electoral wipeout of UKIP will not be down to Farage – perhaps one of the most articulate and media-savvy party leaders we have in this country - has done all he can with the party. No, it is down to some of the members of this minor party. Indeed, the departure of some of these members has been blamed for the breaking of the party. But it is actually the fact that these people were members in the first place that had led to the slow suffocation of UKIP within their oh-so limited sphere of support.
Robin Page is a great example of this mentality. Regular readers of this blog and others will know that I am not a fan. Page comes across as an awful, awful man. He is the fella who refers to Obama as “brown”. He is the sort of person who is too socially inept and too backward in his politics to be a member of the Tories. His hatred of Europe is more about casual xenophobia than anything more ideological or cerebral. He comes across as a backward yokel – the kind of person who truly is beyond satire. Sadly, this is UKIP’s core support.
And it is this core *support* that Farage has rightly tried to distance his party and himself from. This is the only hope for UKIP – if they want to move away from being a very minor party in the UK. But it is that double-edged sword – by losing this support they also face meltdown at the upcoming elections. Nonetheless, if I was Farage at the moment, I’d be popping the champagne corks and looking forward to a brighter future. Yes, the departure of Page and his odious ilk might kill UKIP. But a party reliant on Page etc to survive really isn’t worth leading…
posted by The Nameless Libertarian @ 10:53 am
5 Comments
5 Comments:
UKIP are even more at war with themselves than the Tories are. They have a Daily Mail wing & a libertarian wing, & while both hate the EU the reasons are totally different, so they can't even properly unite around that.
Farage's attempts to form UKIP into a libertarian party will fail, especially given that LPUK is now around, & Tory rejects are going to stream into his party & piss everyone off.
I do wonder. I don't think the BNP will ever get above a certain stage, certainly not if immigration is reduced soon, because their "policies" are such shite & their members such twats that most racists, especially Tory racists, won't support them.
The cunts will probably never manage to form themselves into an articulate party like the FN as there is no leadership. Farage has basically got no chance now that you & your mates are around. But where will the likes of Robin Page turn? Perhaps they'll just go & rant at people at bus stops rather than engage with electoral politics.
Donkeys led by a Lion. I will follow Mr Farages example, if possible. If not, the BNP might be the only viable alternative.
"He comes across as a backward yokel – the kind of person who truly is beyond satire. Sadly, this is UKIP’s core support."
Ah wrong. That certainly used to be the case, but most of those loons are drifted away. In fact they are the ones who think the leadership has 'been siezed' - if trying to professionalise the party and enforce discipline is being siezed then yes, it has.
They are the same people who delighted in UKIPs amateurish and 'grass-roots' image.
However since 2004 there has been a wave of new, younger and intelligent people who are turning the ship around, bit by bit.
Vindico,
UKIP's only hope is that those younger, brighter sparks succeed in dragging the party away from the likes of Page. But Asquith is right - Farage will struggle to turn UKIP into a Libertarian party given it is not instinctively Libertarian. And, y'know, there already a Libertarian party.
I don't know, we'll see what happens. But I suspect UKIP's time might be over.
TNL
Yes, the question is whether young libertarians want to help Farage in his endeavours or not to bother.
I myself am not a libertarian & don't particularly like the philosophy, but am anti-EU, so have just set myself up as an all-purpose twat who slags everyone off.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home