Farage’s popularity plummets as voters realise what UKIP is

Nigel-Farage

Sanity seems to be returning to British politics – if only in a small measure – with the revelation by The Independent that UKIP leader Nigel Farage’s personal approval rating has lead-ballooned.

According to pollsters Ipsos Mori, he’s now equal in unpopularity with David Cameron – which seems about right, considering their political similarities.

Voter satisfaction with Farage dropped 14 percentage points in the last month after a sex scandal involving UKIP’s now-suspended general secretary and rows over public breastfeeding, expenses and immigration.

Of all voters, 53 per cent said they were “dissatisfied with the way Nigel Farage is doing his job as leader of UKIP”, while 33 per cent were “satisfied”. With “don’t knows” taken into account, Mr Farage now has a similar net approval rating to comedy prime minister David Cameron: -20 and -21 respectively.

Among UKIP’s own supporters, Farage remains highly popular, with 92 per cent saying they were satisfied with what he’s doing.

But then, UKIP supporters are a rum lot. Earlier this week the Vox Political page on Facebook endured an influx of Kippers who were incensed that this blog had promoted a Political Scrapbook story questioning their party’s record on disability.

Not one of them had a reasonable case to present. They turned up, insulted the blog, the page and anybody on it who pointed out that they weren’t making any sense. They spammed the page with endless pointless images promoting UKIP and denigrating the other parties, and with long passages of policy declarations from the party’s website – none of which were relevant to the issues at hand.

Then the page’s administrator decided enough was enough and started banning them, so those who remained declared that they had demonstrated that anyone speaking against them was wrong, deluded or stupid and that Vox Political wasn’t worth the bother – which was enough to get them banned as well.

The general change of heart about Farage is therefore a great relief, as it indicates that people are coming to their sense. The alternative – if he had remained popular while his people have been carrying on like bulls in a china shop – would have been to lament to depths to which British political sensibilities had sunk.

The Independent reported: “At the weekend – as the Ipsos Mori poll was being carried out – UKIP’s candidate in a top target seat, Kerry Smith, was forced to resign after it emerged he had made homophobic and racist remarks and joked about shooting poor people.”

That’s right – and the controversy earned this response when Farage tried to justify his candidate’s behaviour:

“Nigel defends candidate’s language: ‘If you were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?’

“I say ‘Chinese’ Nigel.”

With a leader like that, no wonder the rest of his party are hooligans.

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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18 Comments

  1. Roland Scales December 19, 2014 at 4:44 pm - Reply

    It’s all gone quiet!

  2. Nick December 19, 2014 at 6:00 pm - Reply

    Steph and Dom Meet Nigel Farage
    http://www.channel4.com/programmes/steph-and-dom-meet-nigel-farage/on-demand/59671-001

    personnly i found this funny i know mike you will be disappointed in me

    • Mike Sivier December 19, 2014 at 6:52 pm - Reply

      I keep meaning to catch up with it. I might find it funny too.

      • Sooz December 19, 2014 at 7:57 pm - Reply

        I watched it too, and the impression I got was that neither Steph nor Dom were impressed by him. Dom even tells Nige not to expect him to vote UKIP at the end, although they were good hosts and were polite to his face.

        Best comment from the programme: “He looks like a frog that’s sat on a nail.”

  3. Tim December 19, 2014 at 7:10 pm - Reply

    I kind of hope that UKIP’s weird popularity will last long enough to sap enough Tory votes to prevent Cameron from remaining Prime Minister post 2015.

    • Neil Mac December 20, 2014 at 7:41 am - Reply

      I agree with you Tim. Although I loathe everything UKIP stands for, I hope that they will devastate the Tory vote.

    • George December 21, 2014 at 2:48 pm - Reply

      I agree with you also, ANYTHING is better than another 5 years of Cameron and Osbourne, who do they think they are kidding.

  4. Mr.Angry December 19, 2014 at 8:47 pm - Reply

    Mike apologies I am lost for words I truly think I am going mad I can not accept what I am hearing on a day to day basis with totally corrupt so called politicians. What the hell has happened to reason and compassion for one’s fellow man. Farage is seeking his own gains. This country is finished the tories are engaging the US policies at a rate beyond comprehension.

    Miliiband needs to tell the electorate there is an end to austerity albeit it may take some time. The tories have crucified labour for propaganda reasons it’s becoming like a comic journal and people are dying as a result.

    • George December 21, 2014 at 2:50 pm - Reply

      Sorry old chap, but how do you KNOW that Farage is going to be up to the same tricks
      as Cameron and his cowboys ?

  5. Nicola December 19, 2014 at 11:51 pm - Reply

    I find all Politicians corrupt. They are full of empty promises. This country is going to the dogs and all these Politicians are doing is putting each other down. They are not interested in the people all they are interested in is lining there pockets.

  6. Will Mcjones December 20, 2014 at 1:27 am - Reply

    Its true, people are at last realising that all kippers are really witches and should be burnt at the stake..Anyone who believes the UK should be governed by the UK is completly mad ..whats wrong with being part of a proven corrupt and undemocratic united states of europe , that can’t get it accounts signed off , cant account for missing billions and continues to demand evermore money to fund its selfserving incompetent politicians.

    • Mike Sivier December 20, 2014 at 2:28 am - Reply

      Why do you think the UK is governed from outside the UK? Look at the problems faced by people in the UK today and there’s a very clear and simple reason for them: The UK’s very own Coalition Government.
      So the basic premise of your comment is wrong, because you are suggesting a claim that simply hasn’t been made.

      • George December 21, 2014 at 2:58 pm - Reply

        Clearly UK is governed by Cameron but has to obey the rules of the EU, therefore it is a shared task. The one group of people who have had NO SAY in this process are the British public. Most of them still
        actually believe that they have a choice, and most of them will NEVER
        wake up and realise that politics in this country has been an illusion of choice for decades. I joined UKIP with this in mind, that we could start
        thinking in a totally different way, and solve our problems instead of
        leaving everything out of control. Our problems are easily solveable
        if our politicians WANT TO SLVE THEM.

        • Mike Sivier December 21, 2014 at 3:06 pm - Reply

          Rubbish – the British public will have a say on May 7 next year.
          UKIP does not involve ‘thinking in a totally different way’ at all, and anyone who suggests that is lying. UKIP politics is further to the right than Conservative politics, therefore the will of the people has nothing to do with its policies, which are about the will of UKIP’s top brass.

  7. Will Mcjones December 20, 2014 at 11:25 pm - Reply

    this comment column, you behave yourself.>

  8. Ewan December 21, 2014 at 5:20 am - Reply

    This article is interesting but the fact that Nigels popularity will put off voters and supporters is rubbish Nigel is not UKIP it as grown beyond this man and will do so in to the future. If the public went off every so called scandal that as been dug deep to to make a smear story…..The Labour voters would be none existent. The fact is the political elite play up to the media. We are becoming like America I don’t care what a politician does in his life along as it does not break the laws of the land. It the policies that I a want to know about like exactly what legislative powers that Britain have signed over to Brussels (Every Labour Gov signed every treaty the last one ever is the Lisbon treaty ineffect since 1st Nov 2014 look up want they are the right of self rule gone forever) and that the EAW (European arrest warrant) as striped us all of our protection of innocent until proven guilty not guilty now prove your innocent. UkIP are trying to keep British constitution which most countries in the world model themselves of us. That is what a UKIP supporter believes in. Thats what the unconnected to the public political parties don’t understand and if it was not for the votes going to UKIP the 3 main parties would not bend, but they are now adopting their policies so more harsh than UKIP would go. BUT THATS always left out and glossed over

    • Mike Sivier December 21, 2014 at 11:53 am - Reply

      I don’t think there’s any need to believe a comment with so many inaccuracies from a person using an obvious pseudonym.
      For example: “Every Labour Gov signed every [EU] treaty” is incorrect. A Conservative government took the UK into the EU, and then Conservative governments signed the Schengen Treaty of 1985, the Single European Act of 1987, and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. The European Arrest Warrant has been brought in by the Conservative-led Coalition government – and in a very sly, underhand manner.
      Your comments about the UKIP leader’s popularity are easily dismissed as his ratings have dropped as a result of scandals involving other members of the party. Basically, it’s as I stated in the article: People have realised what UKIP is, and don’t want anything to do with it. Would UKIP gain points with a new leader? Possibly – but only until the scandals start happening again, and that’s bound to happen because the party attracts people who, at best, are liabilities.
      Your own ignorance about the EU is an example.

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