UKIP - new name, same old story

A few people are getting excited about UKIP's attempt to re-brand itself.  Some, like Fabian, are even considering voting for this useless bunch of pissheads.

In the eight years since it won seats in the European Parliament, UKIP has achieved bugger all.  To make any headway in Brussels you need to do deals with other parties to gain influence and greater speaking rights.  Even Le Pen, the BNP and UKIP renegade Ashley Mote understand that.  But making such deals not only involves being nice to foreigners, it also means putting in some hard work, neither of which appeals much to UKIP's MEPs.  Consequently they sit on the sidelines moaning, drawing their salaries, living the high life in Brussels and only occasionally turning up to vote.

The party's lack of impact in Brussels has been matched by a failure to use its success in the Euro elections as a platform for building a political movement in the UK.  Despite its financial backing, UKIP only has around 10 councillors.  Unfortunately for UKIP,  getting people elected to local councils requires not only money but hard work as well.  There is strong evidence that people are crying out for a political alternative so UKIP should be pushing at an open door.  Even that, it seems, is too much effort for Mr Farage and his chums. 

The reason behind the change of name is the need to boost the party's profile in time for the next Euro elections.  This is consistent with the pattern of UKIP's campaigning cycle. In 1999, three UKIP MEPs were elected. They then disappeared from view until just before the next election when they begged for more money from their sponsors, launched a high profile campaign and got themselves re-elected. They then sank without trace again until now.

If this pattern is repeated during the next Euro elections, there will be a big relaunch, an expensive campaign, which will see the re-election of Farage and some others,  followed by another three year hiatus in which the UKIP MEPs will return to their dilettante Brussels lifestyle. 

UKIP cannot win elections in any arena apart from the Euro elections. The party-list system makes it easy for small parties to win seats.  An expensive nationwide campaign which promotes the party, rather than its candidates, has a greater impact under the rules of the Euro election than it would on a local or Westminster poll.  To keep Farage and his friends in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, it is therefore imperative for them to win European elections. Other elections are harder to win and would only be worth the effort if UKIP's leadership were really serious about building a political alternative in Britain.

But they are not. UKIP's golf-club bores just want to get themselves re-elected to the European Parliament so that they can continue to indulge themselves at the taxpayer's expense. Although they make the occasional blustering speeches, they are not up to the job of seriously challenging the political status quo.  If the current UKIP MEPs are re-elected in 2009, or, God forbid, the party even manages to increase its representation in Brussels, we will hear nothing more from them until 2013, when it will be time to start preparing for the next Euro elections.

Once elected, Farage and Co will disappear into the bars and restaurants of Brussels for the next five years until they want your vote again. If you are hoping that UKIP will change the political map, you'll need to wait until they have finished their dinner.

Comments

[UKIP@HOME]

Come read more about UKIP(IP)on our Blog

http://e-ukip-home.blogspot.com/

[Dave]

"To make any headway in Brussels you need to do deals with other parties to gain influence and greater speaking rights."

In other words small parties are totally powerless unless they go along with what the big party's want.

Thats whats wrong with the EU, our voice is not heard and it is drowned out by the rest of the EU.
The EU is a project designed to destroy genuine democracy in Europe.

Agree UKIP haven't done much yet, but no small party can, all they can do is try to get bigger.

[Fabian Tassano]

Steve, I'm considering voting for UKIP, not because of their rebranding (which if anything puts me off, being almost certainly superficial), or because I think they will exercise significant political influence in practice, but as an alternative to not voting at all, which I would otherwise do.

I.e. as a protest vote, to express my dissatisfaction with being unable to vote for a major party which respects civil liberties and doesn't want to further increase state funding and powers.

I have reservations about voting for them even on that level, because of all the reported dodginess. Trouble is, it's hard to know how much of the alleged dodginess is real, and how much of it is misrepresented by a political and media establishment which is clearly hostile.

Actually, in the current climate there is something to be said for a party which sits on its backside. Every time our present government comes out with another initiative, it makes me wish for leaders who thought doing nothing was the way to go. Politicians who just want to live the high life and fiddle their perks are far less dangerous in my opinion than those who feel they're on some utopian crusade. That's why I find it a bit stupid when people get more worked up about Blair's holidays, or Irvine's wallpaper, than about (say) New Labour's abolition of double indemnity.

[Fabian Tassano]

I mean double jeopardy, not "double indemnity" [:o)

[BNPandme]

So, who are you going to vote for?

[Chris Underhill]

Yes indeed, who else is there to vote for? I hate the idea of abstaining, but until the Tories become proper conservatives again it's hard to know what to do.

Then again, maybe the same thing went through the minds of German voters in 1933 ('These politicians are all p*ss useless. I know, let's vote for that NSDAP lot. They won't win, but at least it'll put the shits up the mainstream parties". What happened after that may not have been quite what most Germans expected...

Not that UKIP bear any relation to the NSDAP. But though some of their manifesto is rather unadventurous, they do seem to be more than a single issue party, and probably closer to core conservative values than any of the others. I just wish that the leadership inspired more confidence. But with luck increasing success will encourage more high-quality dissenters to come over to them from other parties.

[BNP and me]

So, people vote for UKIP, something something something, gas camps open in essex?