POLLS: Can UKIP only win with Tory defectors?
Douglas Carswell: He defected from the Tories to UKIP and then re-won his Clacton seat, if you can remember that far back.
Here’s an interesting point, made by a Vox Political commenter: Both UKIP’s Parliamentary seats have been won by defectors from the Conservative Party, contesting the seats they already occupied.
This leads to an obvious question: Can UKIP win any Parliamentary seats at all with its own candidates?
It also leads to another, less obvious question: Is UKIP just a front for Tories who want to push British politics ever-further into the political right wing that leads to Fascism?
Let’s see what you think.
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sadly, I think they can. But I think their ambitions will be blunted by a combination of “real election syndrome” (protest votes in by elections tend to evaporate) and infighting. There is already a spat between Reckless and Farage. Do we believe these arrogant tory types will be content to be silent while their pint-swilling spokesman speaks for them? No. There will be more attempts for the tail of new defectors to wag the UKIP dog to “better reflect their wishes”.
I’m hoping that this and the necessity with all this publicity to have actual policies for the general election (most of which UKIP voters won’t like which is why they haven’t been told about them yet) will take some of the shine off their campaign.
Said touching wood and with my fingers firmly crossed.
What I find puzzling is the claim that many former Labour supporters are voting for UKIP.
Likewise. I think they’re trying to make it happen by saying it’s already going on. No Labour voter would go to UKIP, knowing what that organisation’s policies are.
I don’t know about whether they’re joining UKIP to bring the government to a more fascist level, more like they’re jumping on a populist bandwagon to look after their own skins and get another 5 years on the gravy train
It seems to me that Reckless’s seat was safe enough, no matter which party he represented.
If the LibDems are a new “coalition” model, it would seem that the has-beens and lack-lustre of the Tories (so many to choose from!) will be jumping across to Ukip to try & get a ministerial limo & salary in the event of another coalition.
It’s the only way the likes of Danny (Beaker) Alexander would ever have got anywhere, let alone where he is today. Reckless and his ilk are just showing even more naked ambition than usual for the career politicians. He obviously sees himself as the leader of the HOC kippers.
I was confused when Cameron and the Tory Establishment came out so heavily in favour of gay marriage equality. At the time I speculated that maybe the “corporate tories” had reached a point where they felt they could work better for corporate interests if they shed the loony right element of the Conservative Party. Seems to me that everything that is happening now fits with that analysis except that his gone very badly for the corporate tories. Badly for them – and downright dangerous for the rest of us!
I think it’s more of a distraction technique with the actual fall-out being used by the tory corporate press to hammer Labour. So people will either vote ukip or tory in desperation so it really is a win-win situation for the establishment.
Things usually happen as they are meant to!
Mike, your deceptions are similar to those practiced by the Party you support. It might turn your stomach but cop a view of UKIP’s conference this year and you will see ex-Labour members actually speaking on the rostrum and heartily embracing UKIP policies. I’m sorry, but to say that no Labour party voter would go to UKIP if they knew what their policies were is incorrect. Labour will continue to fail because they seem incapable of telling the truth, they seem to be wanting to simply ‘wish away’ the problems the Country has. Your party is losing votes because of it’s slavish acceptance of 99% things Europe. Deceive yourselves if you want, you won’t move forward if it’s simply ‘more of the same’.
I stand by my words. Those people might have voted Labour in the past but to embrace UKIP they must have been very heavily deceived or supporters of neoliberal New Labour, that bears more resemblance to the Conservative Party than Labour.
Potential Labour voters, I would suggest, would not appreciate your highly nuanced reply. “Vote Labour; don’t get Labour” would appear to be a valid rallying(?) cry for Election 2015.
I would suggest that your comment is politically-motivated hogwash. Vote Labour and you’ll get Labour; vote Tory and you’ll get Tory. Vote UKIP and you’ll get screwed.
Given that the most likely outcome in the next election is that no party gains a majority we are looking at coalitions between either Labour and the SNP or Tories and Ukip. It would not be beyond the realms of reality for the Tories to consider any seats lost to Ukip as ex-tories infiltrating Ukip for a future coalition. Should we end up with a Tory/Ukip coalition the only arguments are going to be over the level of idealogical savagery inflicted upon the majority of the people.
The real question is: why do so many people keep voting right-of-centre against their own best interests?
I agree completely. Why do people vote against their own interests?