UKIP

[admin]

The moment of truth has finally arrived, with the results of the three Parliamentary by-elections in Rotherham, Middlesbrough and Croydon North all now in.  They represent UKIP's best-ever night of Parliamentary by-elections with two second places out of the three from Jane Collins and Richard Elvin (and at the moment, it's great to see that EVERY election seems to be a record-breaker!).  What else would we expect, when UKIP has hit record levels in the national opinion polls this week?  All of the results are given in full below.  What, I wonder, will be the political fallout of tonight coming so soon after Corby and the PCC elections?  Could Nick Clegg's leadership of the Liberal Democrats now be in trouble after they've been comprehensively beaten by UKIP yet again, lost two deposits and finished in 8th place in Rotherham?

All three of the Parliamentary by-elections looked to be interesting seats, and in all three Labour was the party defending.  The first question – could UKIP take votes in Labour areas? – has been answered repeatedly over recent years: Yes.  After tonight, our top 4 by-election performances (Rotherham, Corby, Barnsley, Middlesbrough) have all been in seats won by Labour.  The media may portray us from time to time as a Party of ex-Conservatives, but the reality is far more complex and in a lot of areas we do take Labour votes.  Both Rotherham and Middlesbrough have a track record of strong UKIP results at local elections.  Even without the fostering scandal, UKIP would probably have done well in these by-elections.  But in Rotherham in particular the full effect was shown as the Party smashed our previous by-election record set in Corby just a fortnight ago, and Jane took an impressive 21.8% of the vote.

Behind the scenes, the Party's by-election team has become far more professional in recent years and we have been able to compete with the other parties' machines for the first time.  But these by-elections presented a different, unique challenge, and UKIP's Party Director Lisa Duffy was the one to bear the brunt of it.  The Corby by-election took place just a fortnight ago, together with Police Commissioner elections across the country.  With the by-elections called at the minimum notice required by law, we suddenly found ourselves having to hit deadlines at incredibly short notice, our national by-election campaign team had to fight more than one area at once, and concertina campaigns on the ground into just a couple of weeks.

How far the Party has progressed in such a short space of time!  A couple of years ago, we wouldn't have had the expertise or resources to fight three campaigns properly at such short notice.  We would never have been able to put 50 activists in the field in Rotherham, and 30 in Middlesbrough, simultaneously on the same day on Saturday.  Praise is also due of course to the by-election candidates Jane Collins, Richard Elvin and Winston McKenzie who have campaigned tirelessly in this election.  And whilst on the subject of progress, 750 new members joined the Party last weekend alone.  Whilst other parties' memberships fall, UKIP's continues to rise.

The media story of 29th November will be of UKIP progressing due to the fostering scandal.  But that's only one half of the story: don't let's forget the hard work of our campaign team and activists.  The British infantry in World War One were often described as 'lions led by donkeys'.  The way that Lisa Duffy and her team have built a slick by-election machine means that I think it would be perfectly fair to describe UKIP activists as 'lions led by lions'.  Onwards and upwards!

Rotherham by-election result

Labour – 9866 (46.3%)

UKIP – Jane Collins – 4648 (21.8%)

BNP – 1804 (8.5%)

Respect – 1778 (8.3%)

Conservative – 1157 (5.4%)

English Democrats – 703 (3.3%)

Independent – 582 (2.7%)

Liberal Democrats – 451 (2.1%)

TUSC – 261 (1.2%)

Independent – 51

No description – 27 [English Defence League]


Middlesbrough by-election result

Labour -10201 (60.5%)

UKIP – Richard Elvin – 1990 (11.8%)

Liberal Democrats – 1672 (9.9%)

Conservative – 1063 (6.3%)

Peace Party – 1060 (6.3%)

BNP – 328 (1.9%)

TUSC - 277 (1.6%)

No description -275 (1.6%)


Croydon North by-election result

Labour – 15892 (64.7%)

Conservative – 4137 (16.8%)

UKIP – Winston McKenzie – 1400 (5.7%)

Liberal Democrats – 860 (3.5%)

Green – 855 (3.5%)

Respect -707 (2.9%)

Christian Peoples - 192 (0.8%)

National Front - 161 (0.7%)

Communist - 119 (0.5%)

Official Monster Raving Loony Party – 110 (0.4%)

Nine eleven was an inside job – 66 (0.3%)

Young People's Party – 63 (0.3%)

Best wishes,

Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

The Party's membership continues its meteoric rise.  We have gone past 19,000 over recent weeks and I hope to soon be able to report an increase to take us over the key 20,000 figure.  Party membership has been falling in the traditional old parties for years; UKIP is the only Party showing a real increase in membership.


Later in this newsletter is a report on this month's NEC meeting.  As regular readers will know, I often like to focus on issues of interest which aren't always widely-reported in the Party.  At yesterday's NEC meeting, the Party's decision to register as a Party able to contest elections in Gibraltar was quite an understated one and was agreed without a murmur.  I have to declare an interest here, as a one-quarter Gibraltarian (my late grandmother was born in Gibraltar), but the Party is certainly showing an expansion beyond just 'England'.  Once, UKIP was attacked regularly as a party of 'Little Englanders'.  That could hardly have been further from the truth then, but now such an attack would look positively insane.


UKIP has shown, through the election of Cllr. Henry Reilly and the defection of David McNarry MLA, that we have potential in Northern Ireland as well as our elected representation in Wales and Scotland.  We are truly a national Party.  But why Gibraltar?  There are plenty of ideological reasons for us to stand (not least the current threats to their sovereignty), but I'll give a simple practical one today.  Gibraltar votes with the South West region in the European elections.  If we can become active in Gibraltar, we will gain much-needed votes in 2014 which might help us get a third MEP elected in the South West.


More great opinion polls for UKIP



It's now becoming something of a habit that I'm reporting on great polling news for UKIP.  This week, we have had an incredible 13% share of the vote with Opinium (that poll had the Lib Dems on just 9%), and today Angus Reid showed us on 11% (again, Lib Dems on 9%).


Full details of the Opinium survey can be found on the UKIP website  at http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/2897-poll-points-to-record-support-for-ukip.


Report on UKIP NEC Meeting 3rd December 2012



Present: Steve Crowther, Executive Chairman (SC), Nigel Farage MEP, Party Leader (NF),  George Curtis (GC), Mick McGough (MM), Louise Bours (LB), Gerard Batten MEP (GB), Andrew Moncreiff (AM), Neil Hamilton (NH), David Coburn (DC), Hugh Williams (HW), Toby Micklethwait (TM), Douglas Denny (DD), Alan Bown (AB), Paul Nuttall MEP (PN), Mick McGough (MM), Steven Woolfe (SWo).


Also present: Jonathan Arnott, General Secretary – minutes (JA), Lisa Duffy, Party Director (LD), Pete Reeve, Nominating Officer (PR), Stuart Wheeler (SW).  Apologies for absence were received from Michael Greaves.


The meeting started at 1.01pm.  The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.


NF reported to the NEC as Party Leader: In Rotherham Labour scored 70% of the postal vote.  On the day we were neck and neck, but the fostering scandal broke after the postal votes had gone out.  We must get as many people as possible to by-election campaigns in the future.


The NEC considered various options for making it easier for members to help including telephone canvassing which can be done from a distance.  The English County Council elections next year are absolutely critical for many reasons, not least the question as to whether we will make the transition to a 'real, credible alternative' in the eyes of large donors.  Full slates of candidates are critical.


Eastleigh is a potential Parliamentary by-election, and the Party will be doing some preparatory work in case a by-election is called there.  We have candidates selected for 75 of the 85 County Council seats in Hampshire already.  The NEC recorded a formal vote of thanks to Lisa Duffy for her hard work on the by-election campaigns, and also thanked Darryl Pitcher, John Wilkinson and all of the candidates.


The meeting discussed recent issues within Young Independence.


Will Gilpin was invited to present to the NEC.  The NEC approved his appointment as the new Chief Executive of the Party.  Steve Crowther as Party Chairman will continue to oversee the voluntary Party, but Will Gilpin's role will include overseeing the work of our press, internet and social media team.  He will report to Steve Crowther.


The Treasurer reported that the Party's finances are in the best state ever, and the Party membership is now over 19,000.


The NEC approved JA's proposed changes (P.4.1) to the Rules of Procedure to specify the information to be provided in Independence News for NEC candidates, with minor amendments.  New Rules N.7, N.8 and N.9 clarify the role of a Returning Officer in Party elections.


The NEC discussed the proposed immigration policy, and decided to send it back to the policy sub-committee to be finalised.


PR suggested that we should change the official name of the Party now that the Electoral Commission recognises 'UKIP' as being a word not merely an acronym.  This also opens up new options for Party descriptors.  PR will register us as a party eligible to contest elections in Gibraltar.


The NEC approved the formation of new branches in Trafford and Hemel Hempstead.  The meeting briefly discussed the proposed MEP selection process.  SC outlined a potential selection procedure which had been discussed by the relevant sub-committee.  A paper will be produced for NEC discussion.


The meeting closed at 5.16pm.


BBC profile of UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP



Following UKIP's recent progress at the ballot box, the BBC has done an extended profile of UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP which you might find to be of interest: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20543513.


Ofsted study shows the need for choice in education


"The Ofsted study that highlights the postcode lottery in educational standards across England and Wales is a natural and unavoidable result of the comprehensive education policies of the last 30 years," said Derek Clark MEP, the UKIP education spokesman.


"The study makes it very clear that these failed policies have created an ever greater educational divide. But it is not just those who live in the poorest areas who have been failed.  The study highlights that in many more affluent parts of country children also suffer failure. As Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools said, some schools were 'coasting simply because they've got a significant number of children not on free school meals'.  This is a direct result of the collapse of educational competition."


"Closing down competition and grammar schools due to the ideology of the comprehensive system, has allowed even good schools to become flabby and unambitious for children.  This system is a failure under its own terms as it has led to a widening of the educational and social gap. It fails our children and the country's future, as failures in education lead inexorably to greater failures in society.  It is time to reintroduce competition, so that talented children, from whatever background, social or economic have the chance to excel."


Taxpayers' Alliance – what tomorrow's budget statement should say



You may or may not agree with everything in this document, but it's certainly interesting and ambitious.  Of course, I rather suspect that the actual budget will be a far more dull affair than this suggestion: https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/economics/2012/12/tomorrows-autumn-statement.html.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

You may already have heard on the news of the death of Sir Patrick Moore, a real UKIP stalwart.  The Party issued the following statement yesterday:


The Party mourns the death of Sir Patrick Moore, one of the country's best loved broadcasters, a world-renowned astronomer, virtuoso xylophonist and long-time UKIP supporter.  Sir Patrick was an implacable opponent of European integration. Having founded his own United Country Party in the 1970s he became a supporter of UKIP during the 1990s, frequently speaking at public meetings to great acclaim.


In 2001 he supported Douglas Denny in the Chichester constituency, and he remained close to the party in his local area until his death.  Nigel Farage said today: "Since I first met Sir Patrick when he dominated a UKIP stage in 1999, he has been a friend and an inspiration. Not only to us in UKIP, but across the country and around the world.  Today we have seen the passing of a true great, and a true Englishman".



UKIP support hits new record high at an incredible 16% of the vote



A poll for TNS-BMRB shows UKIP support at DOUBLE that of the Liberal Democrats across the entire country: CON 26% (-2), LAB 41% (+1), LD 8% (-2), UKIP 16% (+4), OTHER 9% (-1).  This is of course UKIP’s best ever poll result by a long way (how many times have I said that in recent months?) and shows the Party making major progress since last month’s poll.


Whilst sub-samples of polls must always be treated with the utmost caution, a look at the detailed tables shows that UKIP is on 24% amongst over-65s â€" the age group most likely to vote.



Letter published in the Yorkshire Post



I rarely reproduce articles from local and regional newspapers in full, but the following letter from GP Taylor, from Scarborough in the Yorkshire Post has to be an exception and you will no doubt see why when you read it.  The writer of the letter is an ordained Anglican priest, writer and broadcaster.


I HAVE been harbouring a deep and dark secret for the past year. At first, I didn’t even dare tell my wife, but I knew that at some point my Machiavellian assignations would be found out.  Last week, I was threatened with my secret being “outed”. So, as a Yorkshireman, I have decided to tell the world. I know that some of my political friends may never speak to me again and may even delete me from Facebook. But the times are such that I have to be honest and come out of the closet.  Yes... I am a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party.


It wasn’t something I did easily. I have not been a fan of conventional political parties for a long time. I hold professional politicians in deep distrust and wonder whom they really serve, their own self-interests or us?  That was until I interviewed a high-ranking member of UKIP for a radio programme that I presented. Suddenly my interest in politics was rekindled. Here was a man with deeply held views, passionate about what he believed.  I knew that every time I wrote in this fine newspaper about Europe, politics and morality then my mailbox would be filled with people who thought like me. People cried out for common sense in politics and a return to sensible policies.  It was when I discovered UKIP that I found a party that held fast to these ideals.


For the first time in many years I had found a political group that actually stood for something and wasn’t afraid to say it. They had rightly predicted that Europe would start to quake and fall apart. Their words have been proven to be true as we see every day, the sick state of Europe trying to stay alive for another month, threatening to bring us all down with it.  What attracted me even more to UKIP was that it wasn’t just a one trick pony.  Definite policies on education, defence, public spending, wind farms and immigration made the party too appealing to ignore.


It was not just a party for the European elections. With policies that struck a resonance with my beliefs, I felt I had to become involved. No longer was I prepared to just vote for a party, I decided to join and in joining I felt empowered. In UKIP, I have found my “Arab Spring”.  It was a cathartic moment. Soon I realised that UKIP has members 
from all backgrounds, faiths, sexualities and ethnic groups, committed to the cause of putting Britain back on its own two feet and growing as a nation.  The UKIP candidates were not career politicians, but ordinary women and men who like me want to see a better country to live in. 
They are so unlike the monochrome Tories and Labour politicians as they actually have something interesting to say.


More surprising is that people from all walks of life are thinking about joining. Politics is coming alive again; in UKIP, people are finding a cause to support.  To me, it is as if UKIP is no longer a protest vote, but a viable alternative to the three party system. In Yorkshire and the North East, it is fast becoming the party of opposition. It is also a party that is bringing life and real debate back into politics. It is engaging people with the big questions and giving them a voice.  I am not an activist, just a member, but I am involved. I no longer whine and moan about the state of the country, I can now do something about it.


It has been hard not to vote for the party I had supported since my youth. Sadly, it had changed beyond recognition. No longer is it a party of the people. No longer is it a party of Yorkshire. Politicians appear to be out of touch with the needs of this vounty. We are expected to mindlessly return MPs to the Westminster gravy train without question and then have our county ignored for the rest of their term in office.  It soon became clear that David Cameron was a man who cannot be trusted to do the right thing for Yorkshire people. He plays a very stupid game of pretence, saying he is a Eurosceptic whilst all the time dragging us deeper into the mire. Likewise, Ed Milliband is shackled to the will of the trade unions and with the Liberal Democrats slowly imploding; the only alternative for Yorkshire is UKIP.


Recent elections have shown that UKIP can make great advances at the ballot box. The only thing stopping them from winning is the doubtful postal votes that were brought in for convenience and have led to political connivance. It is now time for this to be stopped as it threatens democracy and undermines our faith in a political system.  Again, I know UKIP will speak boldly on this issue and bring honourable and upstanding characteristics back into politics. Times certainly are changing. I feel excited that I am a very small part in a political party that wants to see Yorkshire thriving again.  It was for that reason I got off the fence and signed on the dotted line.



David Cameron position on gay marriage: Unworkable and dishonest



David Cameron today declared that he supports the right of churches and other denominations to conduct same sex marriages. But he repeated his idea that his  will be able to protect those denominations that do not wish to conduct these ceremonies from the European Courts.  UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP said: "This is just not possible. While of course UKIP supports those denominations who wish to conduct gay marriage ceremonies, the statement from the Prime Minister seems to be both unworkable and dishonest.  Firstly, he is talking about churches, not denominations. If parish was set against parish in this way his proposal would rip apart the established churches in this country."


"If this were to be allowed to happen, if one parish could, and another couldn't, or one diocese could and another couldn't, the way would be open both to legal challenge to those that rejected gay marriage, and for years of internecine strife within the church.  He repeats that he is planning to ensure an absolute guarantee that those who oppose gay marriage would not be forced to do so, saying: 'If there is any church or any synagogue or any mosque that doesn't want to have a gay marriage it will not, absolutely must not, be forced to hold it'.  But as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a member of the European Union and subject to the rulings of the European Courts, both of Justice and Human Rights, he does not have the right, nor the power to make such a guarantee.


"It is dishonest in the extreme for him  to suggest that he does.  That he is making these statement before the release of the Government's consultation just shows the contempt with which he holds public opinion on the matter".



Former Mayor joins UKIP



Mark Hughes, a former leader of North Hertfordshire District Council, who was Mayor of Royston in 1990/91, has joined UKIP.  On joining UKIP, Mark Hughes said “Colleagues became friends and I had the honour to hold office within my local party, serve almost a decade as a Conservative councillor, and twice contest a General Election as a Conservative Parliamentary candidate.  The Conservative Party is no longer reflecting the views of the majority of its membership and even less so the electorate as a whole.  The UK is sleepwalking into oblivion, and the ability to determine our way of life is being destroyed by the undemocratic European Union.”



Sutton Council by-election result



UKIP candidate Jeremy Wraith took 9.4% of the vote at a Council by-election in London on Thursday.  The results were as follows:


Lib Dem 1034 (53.2%)

Con 402 (20.7%)

Labour 289 (14.9%)

UKIP 182 (9.4%)

Green 32 (1.6%)




And finally….



If your blood pressure is high I suggest that you avoid clicking on this link â€" which details the most breathtaking honesty from the European Union, in which it is made quite clear that it wants national Parliaments to cede more power to the European Union government.  National Parliaments, it argues, "are not in the best position" to take the "common interest" of the union into account.  The full article can be read at http://euobserver.com/political/118438.  Truly spine-chilling stuff.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

It's been another busy week for the Party, and this week's attention has been on both Nigel Farage's Newsnight and the MEPs doing their bit to generate publicity out in Strasbourg.  The MEPs have certainly been on fine form, and for me it was Nigel Farage and William Dartmouth who have caught the eye since the last newsletter was circulated.


We're at a time when the Party is achieving record attention in the media, and one consequence of that will be greater scrutiny of the Party.  Now more than ever, we need to show a united front and ensure that we all put Party above personal gain.  We are, slowly but surely, gaining ground in British politics and we must take care to do nothing that could put that at risk.


If you're in the Eastern Counties, don't forget to watch our Party Director Lisa Duffy on the Sunday Politics tomorrow!



Nigel Farage on the Eurozone



UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP was in superb form in Strasbourg this week, pointing out the way that the European Union seems addicted to throwing money at the problem of the euro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmDq4Sjx3j8&feature=youtu.be.



William Dartmouth MEP destroys opponents in debate on European Arrest Warrant




One of the other highlights of this week was William Dartmouth's performance on the European Arrest Warrant, which is interesting to show just how poor the opposing case really is.  Again, you can see it for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUd0H6j3GhM&feature=youtu.be.



UKIP Chairman Steve Crowther on politics.co.uk podcast




Steve Crowther, the Party Chairman, provided a convincing explanation of why UKIP isn't just a flash in the pan and is here to stay in an interview with the influential politics.co.uk website.  The whole piece can be heard at http://politics.co.uk/podcast/2012/12/14/podcast-ukip-here-to-stay>.



Update from the Party Chairman




New Chief Executive appointed


I am delighted to announce that the Party has a new Chief Executive, who will share the work of building us up to meet the ever-greater challenges that face us. His name is Will Gilpin, and many of you will have seen him present our new draft Defence Policy on the platform at Birmingham.  Will is a former Tornado pilot who has spent the last 10 years working in the private and public sectors, in major IT security environments. He has a Cambridge MA in Computer Science and a BSc in Psychology, makes films and builds websites, so will not only help us to make better use of our web and data assets, but will also be a major contributor to our marketing and messages.  He will be London-based, working closely with the Press and Party team, and will start on Monday. I'm sure you will all have a chance to meet him before long.


UKIP's Newsnight


On Wednesday night the whole of Newsnight was dedicated to the theme: Outside Europe (they meant Outside the EU, of course). It featured both Nigel and Tim Congdon extensively, as well as Terry Smith of Tullett Prebon and Sir David Tang (who produced something of a trump card for 'our side', rather unexpectedly).  It was spellbinding, not least to see the BBC making a strong case for the possible positive benefits of withdrawal (though they did a balancing piece, it was not as strong); Jeremy Paxman not putting our side under any pressure; Boris Johnson being manoeuvred into saying we should get out if we can't negotiate an (unrealistic) amended deal; and a French Minister more or less telling us to get stuffed.


If you haven't seen it, it just want to enjoy it again, it's here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pdymw/Newsnight_12_12_2012/.


Welcome back Mike


I'm delighted to say that Mike Nattrass MEP has rejoined the EFD Group. Mike is working hard on Transport policy for us, and it's great to have him back with the group, following our hugely successful Conference in Birmingham.



UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall MEP welcomes the 'green light' for fracking




UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall, has welcomed the news that the government has given the go-ahead for fracking to be resumed in Lancashire.  "This is a welcome step in the right direction and while there must be safeguards in place we must not let environmentalists pour cold water on this exciting technology," Mr Nuttall said.


"Investigations have shown that in the North West alone we are sitting on 4.6 trillion cubic feet of shale.  This means we have the largest shale resources in Europe which can provide energy in the UK for up to 50 years and create tens of thousands of jobs in the North West of England.  The Committee on Climate Change is playing down the fantastic potential of shale gas to safeguard our energy supplies and bring down prices, as it has in the US. But that is because they are blindly committed to their 'green' agenda and fear cash will be taken from renewables.


"That's a good thing in my book, public money is being thrown away to meet impossible renewable targets laid down by the EU and meanwhile more and more people are being pushed into fuel poverty," said Mr Nuttall, a member of the EU Environmental Committee.



UKIP wins Council seat in Adur




In an area where the parish council is contested by political party candidates, UKIP were up against Lib Dem / Conservative candidates.  The result was UKIP 174, Con 95, Lib Dem 84 – UKIP being just 5 votes short of beating the other two combined.  Congratulations to UKIP's newest councillor, Cllr. Hilsum!



UKIP Party Director Lisa Duffy to feature on Sunday Politics




Look out for Party Director, Lisa Duffy on the Sunday Politics Show (East of England edition) on BBC1 at 11.00am.  The regional part of the programme, where Lisa will be debating with Norman Lamb and Ben Gummer will start at approximately 11.30am.  Under discussion will be the rise of UKIP and other local matters.  In addition, Lisa will be featured as Mayor Ramsay on a BBC4 programme entitled 'A Very English Winter' going out on Sunday night at 8pm.


Best wishes,




Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

We've completed the first set of upgrades to the members' forum , which has added some extra functionality but if there are any 'teething problems' then of course I apologise.  The forum is now back open for members to contribute at www.ukip.org.uk.  We could now do with an additional couple of moderators.  The 'job description' is really about common sense, balance, tact and  the ability to cope with criticism.  If anyone would like to  volunteer for this thankless task, please let me know!


In the last newsletter, I talked about opinion polling and the difference between online and phone polling companies – phone polling companies have UKIP on a much lower share of the vote than internet ones.  One interesting quirk is that ComRes – who did an internet poll showing us on 14% of the vote – have since done a phone poll for the Independent putting us on 9% (+3% from last poll). In the Times, a phone poll by Populus put us on 10% of the vote (+6%), which represents UKIP's best ever share of the vote with a phone polling company.


But perhaps it's not the polls that we should be looking to if we want to see the impact that UKIP is making – today's Daily Telegraph features a cartoon which is incredibly heartening to UKIP and I commend it to you.  The link is currently online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/cartoon/ but you will need to view it today.  Party Chairman Steve Crowther asked "Can you imagine the look on David Cameron's face on opening his Telegraph this morning?"



One in four illegal immigrants in the EU are in the UK



The Daily Express has reported that there are now an estimated 863,000 illegal immigrants in the UK – more than a quarter of the total across Europe.  UKIP's Gerard Batten MEP was quoted as saying "This is an astonishing number and if that was the scale of the problem in 2008 what on earth will it be like now?  My everyday experience as an London MEP shows that this is probably a gross underestimate. We need to take back control of our borders from Europe and bring in the kind of measures that will cut the size of the problem."  To see the full story, please visit http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/365637/Scandal-of-UK-s-863-000-illegal-immigrants-one-in-four-of-the-EU-s-total.


Lord Ashcroft polling finds the UKIP 'threat to the Conservatives' isn't limited to Europe



It can hardly be news to anyone in UKIP that we're about more than just the European Union – but the Conservative Party appears to only just be waking up to that fact.


A massive poll undertaken by the Tory party has confirmed its own worst fears: its members are flocking to UKIP for more reasons than its stand on the European Union.


The survey of 20,000 people shows UKIP's support comes from those concerned with immigration, welfare, the deficit and the struggling economy ahead of anything to do with membership of the European Union. It shows that one in 10 of those who voted Conservative at the last general election now support UKIP.  It also suggested that even among those voters who currently back UKIP, only seven per cent name resolving relations with Brussels as the single most important issue.


The good news for UKIP – bad news for the Tories – was deliverd by their former vice chairman Lord Ashcroft.  He told the Daily Mail: "For voters attracted to UKIP, complaints about immigration or the EU are often part of a greater dissatisfaction with the way they see things going in Britain: They told us that schools can't hold nativity plays any more; that you can't fly a flag of St George any more; that you can't call Christmas Christmas any more; that you won't get social housing unless you're an immigrant; and that you can't speak up about these things because you'll be called a racist – but the mainstream political parties, they believe, are too in thrall to the prevailing culture of political correctness to do anything about it.  For those drawn to it, UKIP's primary attraction is that it will say things that need to be said but others are scared to say."



UKIP fighting fish discards in the European Parliament



Readers will of course be aware already of the huge scandal of fish discards in the European Union.  Because of the appalling way that EU quotas are set, half of all fish caught in the North sea are thrown back  - dead.  This huge waste has been going on for many years, land is the major cause of the decline of fish numbers.  The unnecessary waste of millions of fish each year is symbolic of the European Union itself .

If you're not familiar with the website 'Hugh's Fish Fight', a petition there on the subject has already attracted over  800,000 signatures: http://www.fishfight.net.  The matter was discussed by the fisheries committee in the European Parliament.


UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP today voted in support of an end to discards in the European Parliament fisheries committee.  Following today's vote, the legislation will be subject to negotiations between the Commission and the Council before all MEPs vote on the report.  Speaking after the vote, Mr Farage said, "While it's a step in the right direction in terms of fisheries management it comes 25 year too late.  As long as we remain in the CFP, our territorial waters will continue to be overfished by foreign fleets and taking back national management control would lead to a boom in both our commercial and recreational sectors."



Petition for UKIP to be included in televised debates at the next General Election



Young UKIP member Gary Robinson has set up a petition on the Prime Minister's website demanding that UKIP should be included in the televised debates at the next General Election, given the Party's strength in recent elections and being ahead of the governing Liberal Democrats in most recent opinion polls.  The petition states "We believe that if The UK Independence Party or 'UKIP' beat either of the coalition parties (Liberal Democrats or Conservative Party) at the European Elections 2014, then their leader should be allowed to participate and speak as part of any televised leader's debate ahead of the general election".  Those interested can sign the petition at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43153.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

Happy New Year to all UKIP members!  For once, 2012 a happy year politically as it was the time of a meteoric rise for UKIP in the opinion polls.  I don't often start a newsletter by quoting a Labour figure such as John Cruddas, but in an article about 2013 (quoted in the Sun newspaper amongst others) he said of Nigel Farage that "My hunch is that he and UKIP will have a great 2013 and an even better 2014 when they may top the European elections.  For me, politics was always about two teams — basically left and right. But 2013 will be the breakthrough year of four-party politics, with UKIP the big winners."  I certainly hope that he is right, and his case for the UKIP rise to continue gained even more credibility with the Opinium poll in the Observer showing UKIP now on 15% of the vote.


In 2012, the UKIP rise has been sustained by a string of elections.  From the Council elections in May to four Parliamentary by-elections and the Police Commissioner elections, we have been able to show ourselves as a major player in British politics.  We may not (yet) be in a position to take Parliamentary seats, but by relentlessly beating the Liberal Democrats time and time again we show that we can no longer be considered to be a 'minor' Party.  From that single change in the way the Party is perceived flows media attention and slowly but surely, the British public start to see UKIP as a credible alternative rather than just a protest vote.

2013 is likely to be a year with less media interest in elections than 2012 was.  It is unlikely that there will be the same string of Parliamentary by-elections, and of course there are no Police Commissioner elections.  It is therefore likely that the UKIP performance at the County Council elections due in May will come under far greater scrutiny.  Will we reach our potential at those elections?  This could be the defining moment of the Party's year and shape how we are seen before the 2014 European election campaign begins.  Therefore it is incumbent upon us to do whatever is in our power to ensure a strong showing in those elections.  We must field more candidates than ever before, and ruthlessly target those divisions where we have a chance of winning under First Past The Post.  Of course, many urban areas (those covered by Metropolitan Borough Councils) will have no elections in 2013.  For them, the year will be a time of building and consolidation.  Branches would do well to use that time to concentrate campaigning all year round in target wards which could be won on the back of the European elections in 2014, with the polls likely to be held on the same day.


In short, more than in any other year, how successful UKIP is in 2013 will be determined by the hard work and enthusiasm of our activists.  With the Party membership having recently passed 20,000 and still rising we are better placed than we have ever been to succeed.



Nigel Farage named top UK politician in MSN poll



Nigel Farage was named as the top UK politician of 2012 in a recent poll on MSN with almost 35,000 participants, although sadly more people still chose 'none of the above' than any of the options.  Nigel Farage said "I am delighted by this vote of confidence by the MSN readership. However, the clear message from this poll is that the entire political class is held in contempt.  I am just lucky to be held in less contempt than the rest of them."  The article can be read at http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/ukip%E2%80%99s-nigel-farage-named-top-uk-politician-of-2012.


Nigel Farage's New Year message



UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP produced a New Year's message, which if you have not yet seen it can be found online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M00Hc3oyHrg.  The text of the message is below.


2012 was a remarkable year for UKIP supporters. We began the year on 4.5% in the opinion polls which historically was pretty good for us and it led on at the end of the year to two national Sunday newspapers putting us on an astonishing 14%.


It's been a year of amazing progress; a year which has seen UKIP be regarded as a mainstream political party. And a year that saw all the key campaigning issues that we fought for for years at the centre ground of the national debate in this country. That is terrific news for all of us who have strived long and hard to get these points on the agenda.  And I'm particularly pleased to think back to the by-elections, especially the ones we had in Corby, Rotherham, and Middlesbrough. What it showed was that despite the media obsession that UKIP is taking Tory votes - which of course is true - what those Northern constituencies showed is that Labour votes are coming to UKIP in real numbers too.


And that's why Ed Miliband gave that speech at the end of the year, saying that maybe Labour had made some mistakes on immigration. As 2013 comes in we are told that there will be another big speech coming, this time it's by David Cameron. He is going to make the big Europe speech: well of course, we've had one of those before. He gave us a 'cast iron guarantee if he was Prime Minister that there would be a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Well what would he offer us in January? I can't be sure of the facts but I guess that 'renegotiation' will be at the heart of it and some sort of vague promise that should he win the next General Election, which looks pretty unlikely, there might be a referendum thereafter.


I wouldn't believe Cameron is serious in renegotiation unless he invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which is the only mechanism by which somebody who wanted to stay in the EU could actually begin a process by which to claw back some powers. I doubt he will do that and I also very much doubt that he will say unequivocally say that we'll have an In/Out referendum before the next General Election and that it will be conducted on a free and fair basis. So whilst I doubt that these things will happen it is of course good news that UKIP is putting the question of an EU referendum on the agenda.


I think that the event that will dominate our campaigning throughout 2013 will simply be this: On the 1st January 2014 we open the doors unconditionally to 29 million people from Bulgaria and Romania. Nearly half the Bulgarian population are living below the poverty line - by which I don't mean some Cameron concept of 'relative poverty': he thinks if you haven't two 4x4s on the drive then you're poor. I mean real poverty. People struggling to feed the family. Frankly, if I were Bulgarian I'd be packing my bags now.


So we're not blaming these people for wanting to better their lives but how can we, given those census figures which showed that four millions people from overseas have settled over the course of the last ten years, and that's without the illegals, so the real figure is nearer five million. What madness can it be that we're opening the door to unlimited numbers from those two countries. We believe it will lead to the next really big migratory wave into this country and we don't think that's desirable on the simple numbers but also on the issues of fairness. How can it be right that someone who comes here can automatically qualify for job seekers allowance, can get housing benefit incredibly quickly: surely the benefits system is there for British families who in many cases for generations have paid into this? And the National Health Service is not there for Europe and the rest of the world, it should be there to look after our own people.


But it's also about jobs and at a time when we have 21% and rising youth unemployment in Britain, what is the sense of having yet more oversupply in the unskilled labour market in this country? Well as far as we are concerned, there is none at all. We will make this a major campaigning issue and we will point out that Lib Dems, Conservative and Labour Party can do nothing about this all the while we are part of the European Union's single market.


And we'll go on battling for no tax on the minimum wage to give people in this country in low paid jobs a real incentive to get off benefits. And we'll go on campaigning for our four million small businesses to have so many of the oppressive regulations, on the environment, on health and safety and work, on employment, to have those lifted off their backs so that they can give youngsters a chance to get into the workplace in this country.


We want this country to trade with Europe, to be friendly with Europe, to settle our relationship with a referendum and then let's get on with not just running our own country but being part of the world. What madness is it that we're not allowed to make our own trade deals with other parts of the world and what we suggest is that the Commonwealth where they speak English and where they like us would be a very good place to start.


In election terms, we have the English county council elections coming up in May of this year. This will be the biggest ever contest of local elections by UKIP: we are getting ready, many of the candidates are already in place and we will keep our eyes out for any opportunities for parliamentary by elections. We have established ourselves in 2012 as a party that doesn't just do well in European elections but is becoming a major figure in the domestic scene and I believe and intend that in 2013 we can take that further.  So I wish you all a very happy campaigning 2013.


World At One focus on UKIP



On Boxing Day, UKIP's progress in Ramsey was featured on BBC Radio 4, with both Pete  Reeve and Lisa Duffy being interviewed.  The piece can be  heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YWKI-QnOE.  UKIP was featured on the same programme yesterday, from around 20 minutes in to the following clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01phf4r/World_at_One_31_12_2012/.



Nigel Farage interviewed in the Daily Mail



A long article in the Daily Mail featured UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP, and although it was not completely pro-UKIP it was at least reasonably sympathetic.  When asked about the Rotherham fostering scandal, Nigel Farage said:


"That was appalling, but it's the tip of the iceberg - it's not the first time UKIP people have been discriminated against.  And Mr Cameron is at the top of the discriminators! When the Rotherham foster row broke, Michael Gove was up in minutes saying: "This is outrageous!" Even Miliband said UKIP were a perfectly reasonable group of people. Only one person was rude about us. DAVID CAMERON!  At first he retracted his earlier statement [the 2006 one about the fruitcakes and racists]. Fantastic! I was delighted. Then he retracted the retraction, saying: "Not everybody is UKIP is racist!" Can you believe it? I've taken that very, very personally."


To read the article in full please visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254368/So-Mr-Farage-does-UKIPs-leader-German-wife---did-make-kip-spare-room-seven-times-night-fling-Latvian.html.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

The huge news overnight is a poll for the Mail On Sunday which has shown UKIP on 16% of the vote.  The newspaper leads with the idea that this would 'cost the Conservatives 51 seats', working on the principle that if UKIP didn't exist and voters returned to the Party they voted for previously then UKIP would cost the Conservatives 51 seats.  The figure is based upon a number of assumptions and may, or may not, be accurate.  But for me, it is the rest of the poll's data that is particularly interesting.  For the first time in a long time, an opinion poll has asked useful questions about UKIP, the European elections, Nigel Farage etc.


First, the headline figures: Labour 38%, Conservatives 29%, UKIP 16%, Lib Dems 11%.  The poll is also the first one to ask about voting intentions for the 2014 European elections; the European election voting intention is Labour 31%, Con 24%, UKIP 22%, Lib Dems 11%.  This is actually very encouraging – remember that at the 2014 European elections, UKIP will be treated as one of the 'big players' by the media.  I think also we can reasonably expect UKIP to be relatively better-funded than at any recent election.  Therefore in the course of a campaign there is no reason why we cannot make further progress from this benchmark.


The poll also asked which Party leader people most trust to defend Britain's interests.  The results were Cameron 28.1%, Miliband 27.3%, Farage 18.7%, Clegg 8.7% with the remainder undecided or refused to say.  This also bodes very well indeed for UKIP.  The reason is simple: during an election campaign, the Party leaders are in the media spotlight more.  A party which has a popular leader is likely to benefit.  Considering previous public perception of UKIP, it's probably also positive that just 31.2% agreed with the sentiment of David Cameron's 'fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists' jibe against UKIP.


What of UKIP's chances at a General Election?  An incredible 43.5% stated that they would 'consider voting UKIP at a General Election' – meaning that there really are a lot of people out there who we could convert to our cause.  And even better for UKIP, 50.1% of people want Nigel Farage to get a seat at Westminster.  That could, I think, bode well for UKIP should the right Parliamentary by-election come up!  I suppose I should finish this article with the least interesting part of the poll, the part which confirms what we already know – that the British public aren't keen on the European Union:  56.6% want an in/out referendum, whilst just 26.4% do not.  If such a referendum were to be held, the public would vote to leave: 53.6% to 36.1%, with the remaining 10.3% undecided.



Welcome to UKIP, Cllr. Whittle




Mid-Suffolk councillor Frank Whittle has joined UKIP after becoming disillusioned with the Conservatives.  He told the East Anglian Daily Times "I am sick and tired of all the political correctness and of politicians who are all mouth and no action.  I am known for speaking my mind and this has meant that I have become persona non grata with the local Conservative Party. I am very much looking forward to being a part of UKIP, a party that puts Britain first and which isn't afraid to speak out on the controversial issues of the day."  For more information please see http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/politics/mid_suffolk_councillor_frank_whittle_defects_to_ukip_after_becoming_disillusioned_with_tories_1_1783258.



The Sun exposes pro-EU propaganda in schools




The Sun newspaper has exposed a 28-page glossy brochure which claims that the euro is a triumph, accusing the EU of seeking to 'brainwash' children.  UKIP member Tim Aker (formerly UKIP's head of policy), who now works as Campaign Manager for Get Britain Out, said "This is nothing more than brainwashing young schoolchildren with half-truths and wishful thinking."  The article can be found online at http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4725740/Anger-at-schools-pro-euro-booklets.html#ixzz2H9fKHrZx.



UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP slams uncontrolled immigration in Daily Star




UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP has been quoted in a Daily Star article which claims that Britain is set to be 'swamped' by a wave of immigration from Eastern Europe.  Nigel was quoted as saying: "The opening of the doors to 29million Romanians and Bulgarians is going to become a huge issue.  If I was a Bulgarian, I would be packing now, because 46% of that country is now living in poverty.  Not relative poverty – Mr Cameron's concept of poverty is that you haven't got two four-wheel-drives – but genuine poverty."  The Daily Star reminded readers that Labour predicted only 15,000 Poles would come to Britain after Poland joined the EU in 2004, but they got the numbers badly wrong, and more than 600,000 immigrants from Poland have since taken up residence here.  The full article can be found at http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/289618?123.



UKIP member Brian Lynch selling book to raise money for Save The Children




Brian Lynch, an author of poems and short stories, has written a book to help Save the Children.  His most recent publication, Nkoli, hosts an array of fictional stories and poems which reflect events and people from Brian's own lifetime from Churchill and 'the Greatest', to Liz, his beloved wife. There is a common theme running through the stories – be they crime, sci-fi, love, fantasy or pure mystery.  All profits from sales.  will be donated to Save the Children.


The title 'Nkoli' refers to a short poem about a starving child in Africa, and Brian asks: "Please, help us feed the Nkoli's of this world."  Nkoli is available through Amazon, bookshops, Tesco or direct from Brian (brian@blims.freeserve.co.uk) for a cost of £7.99.


Best wishes,




Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

A number of members are asking what will be happening with regard to the members' forum.  I hope to be able to provide more information after Monday's NEC meeting.


You may recall that a couple of weeks ago a shock poll conducted by YouGov showed that more people would vote to remain in the European Union than leave in a referendum.  This was not in line with other polls and could potentially have been a cause for concern.  Normally, opinion polling companies don't ask other relevant questions before an in-out referendum question, as it could tend to distort the results.  In the YouGov poll, a number of previous questions about the EU had been asked.


It was always going to be interesting to see what the next poll had to say on the matter, and the Daily Express found earlier this week that people would vote to leave the EU by 56.3% to 43.7%.  The article, which is a few days old as I was on holiday at the time it was published, can be found at http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/373785/Express-poll-shows-a-surge-in-support-for-fight-to-quit-EU.


The next big opportunity for UKIP at the ballot box (barring any Parliamentary by-elections in the meantime) will be the County Council elections in May.  We already have well over a thousand candidates selected, but there are 2,450 seats up for grabs.  If we can make a real effort and get candidates on the ballot paper in the majority of seats (perhaps even in more seats than the Lib Dems?), this will really help to sustain our positive momentum.


I would like to apologise that I am only now circulating the report on the January NEC meeting.  Firstly, there was a mix-up where I didn't receive the usual email approving the report.  Secondly, I was on holiday last week and so it has had to be delayed.  Please see the report below.



Report on January NEC meeting



Present: Nigel Farage, Party Leader (NF), Steve Crowther, Party Chairman (SC), Toby Micklethwait (TM), George Curtis (GC), Neil Hamilton (NH), Michael McGough (MM), Hugh Williams (HW), Paul Nuttall MEP (PN), Alan Bown (AB), David Coburn (DC) (from 11.30am), Steven Woolfe (SWo) (from 12.02pm).


Also present: Michael Greaves, Party Secretary (MG), Pete Reeve, Nominating Officer (PR), Stuart Wheeler, Party Treasurer (SW), Will Gilpin, Chief Executive (WG), Christopher Gill (CG), Lisa Duffy, Party Director (LD), Roger Bird (RB).
Apologies for absence were received from Louise Bours, Andrew Moncreiff and Gerard Batten.
The meeting started at 11.05am.


SC reported that AM has been particularly unwell over the Christmas period; the NEC will send him a card.  The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.  The NEC confirmed Steve Crowther's decision to remove Olly Neville from his interim role as Chairman of Young Independence after a number of issues had been raised regarding his conduct in the public domain.


The meeting primarily discussed the options for MEP selection for 2014.  A report from the sub-committee was considered, but in light of recent events a majority of members felt that the idea of a 'Long Campaign' risked severe internal problems.


NF reminded NEC members that we need strength in depth in candidates as it is possible that we could get a large number of members elected in 2014 if we achieve our aim of winning the European elections.  The NEC considered two other proposals which had been put forward for MEP selection.


A consensus was achieved through various indicative votes to provide a steer to the sub-committee as to what the final process should look like.  To ensure thoroughness and transparency, the Party is considering using external consultants to administer some of the interview and assessment process.  A consensus was reached that candidates must pass the Westminster assessment process before going through the process to stand for the European elections.


The assessment  of sitting MEPs was considered.  MEPs will have to go through the assessment procedure and this will include an evaluation of their performance in role, with reference to the Code of Conduct signed by all candidates in 2008.


The NEC held a series of indicative votes on various options for the selection procedure, and was able to provide a clear steer to the sub-committee.


One member wondered whether Regional Organisers and Regional Chairmen have an unfair advantage in a membership ballot due to 'name recognition', and whether they should be excluded from standing. The consensus was that the NEC's chosen option minimises any such advantage, and therefore Regional Organisers and Regional Chairmen should be allowed to stand.


The NEC unanimously approved the formation of branches in Lanarkshire, Staffordshire Moorlands, Trafford & Bolton, Bracknell, Portsmouth, Newark, Louth & Horncastle and Bassetlaw.


The increase in Party membership has been a key part of the improved Party finances, with a new 2,000 members in 2 weeks.

Geoffrey Clark has withdrawn from the NEC election.

The NEC confirmed a decision to withdraw membership from an ex-member who had rejoined the Party in a false name, thereby avoiding declaring previous criminal convictions.


In the Leader's Report, NF said it is incredible that a Party without Westminster representation can be doing so well in the opinion polls.  We have good, simple messaging and we are ensuring that the bullets hit the target.  But we must not be hubristic in terms of the way that we see ourselves.  We must not tell members' meetings that we will win large numbers of Westminster seats and sowing a false level of expectation to our members.


The County Council elections are absolutely key and we must have candidates in as many seats as possible. From January 1st next year, we will open up the doors to this country and our social security systems to Bulgaria and Romania. We would estimate half a million in the first two years. Those who claim to be self-employed and seeking work can claim benefits from day one. Having visited a Roma encampment, NF believes the Roma are a minority which is massively oppressed. We must be responsible in terms of the language that we use, and we must understand the plight that these people are in – but that does not mean that the NHS and benefits system are there for others to use.


Despite all our efforts, the majority of the British public have not fully made the link between  immigration and the European Union. There is absolutely no reason why we cannot use the County Council elections to make this point as the impact on Council services of immigration is absolutely huge.  We must challenge Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative leaders and ask them what they plan to do about it.
 

NF will do the annual fundraising appeal to the entire database that we have and say that we intend to campaign on this issue. This Spring, we would like to have a national advertising campaign around this issue. We should also be printing leaflets by the million.  The Party is exploring what appears to be a very attractive option for opening a new office in central London.


The meeting ended at 4.17pm.
 


Could UKIP get a place in televised debates at the next General Election?



Whilst David Cameron is clearly running scared of UKIP, the Telegraph reports that we could be one step closer to having Nigel Farage appear in televised debates before the next General Election, as Ed Miliband has indicated that he would be willing to consider UKIP being allowed to appear.  The full article can be found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9840430/Ukip-could-get-a-place-in-TV-election-debates.html.  There is a petition on the government website demanding that UKIP should be allowed to take part; this already has nearly 6,000 signatures.  You can add your name at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43153 if you want to help this campaign.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

Another Parliamentary by-election will soon be upon us in Eastleigh after Chris Huhne changed his plea to guilty and admitted perverting the course of justice.  I recall meeting Chris Huhne and his (now estranged) wife during the 2010 General Election campaign as we were debating on Radio 5 Live, ironically on the issue of crime.  To say that there seemed to be some friction between the couple would be an understatement.


Politically, a by-election campaign is precisely what UKIP really needs right now.  The biggest fear for UKIP in 2013 has to be that the momentum we built up in 2012 could be lost, in the aftermath of Cameron's speech and with only the County Council elections due in May.  So far, the opinion polls are holding up reasonably well – we're still on 11% in a poll just published tonight by TNS-BMRB for example.  A phone poll after the speech (remember, UKIP usually performs much poorer in phone polls) had us at 10%.  But the opportunity to fight a by-election and once again rock the establishment is one that cannot be taken lightly.


Once again, the team have excelled themselves in ensuring that we are well-prepared for this by-election.  Thanks to a bit of foresight by the UKIP's NEC and leadership, a letter from UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP was recently sent to every home in the constituency – and as luck would have it, the letter landed on most doorsteps today.  Our Party Director Lisa Duffy has already identified possible sites for the UKIP office, and even though the call for candidates has only just gone out there are already a number of potential candidates who have declared their interest.  There may be some readers interested in putting their own names forward; if so, please see below.



Party Director: Calling potential candidates for Eastleigh



Lisa Duffy, the UKIP Party Director, has issued a call for people to put their names forward if they wish to be considered as a potential candidate for Eastleigh. Applications are now open and the closing date is Monday 11th February 5pm.  Please contact Lisa if you would like to be considered for this seat.  If you are not an Approved Candidate you may still apply but will need to sit an assessment in the next few days.  Please apply by emailing partydirector@ukip.org



Update on the return of the members' forum



The NEC discussed the members' forum at its meeting earlier today.  A fuller explanation will follow in the report on the NEC meeting.  Essentially, the NEC has decided that the forum should return but that tighter moderation will be necessary.  The forum rules will be redrafted, and new moderators appointed, before the forum comes back.  This may initially be for a trial period.



Paul Nuttall MEP in today's Daily Express



UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall MEP has blasted the European Union in the Daily Express over EU plans to spend 2 million euros to 'monitor eurosceptic debate on the internet'.  Paul was quoted as saying "Spending that kind of money for EU public servants to become Twitter trolls in office hours is wasteful and truly ridiculous.  It strikes me as bizarre that the EU administration is playing such an explicitly political role with a brief to target Eurosceptics – that's code for parties like UKIP – and this is hardly neutral."  To read the full article please visit http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/375429/Millions-wasted-on-secret-plot-to-tackle-surge-in-EU-hostility.



UKIP – the only Party to oppose HS2



While all other parties are rallying around this £34 billion waste of time, UKIP wants to make clear the other, less heard, side of the argument about HS2.  UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said: "The Government may talk about regeneration and the importance of linking cities in order to create jobs outside London, but high speed rail projects elsewhere have shown that in actual fact it simply leads to more people migrating to the capital city to work, rather than vice versa. It will extend the commuter belt to London beyond Birmingham.



"Yet the cost will be more than £1,000 per household. Many people will never even benefit from High Speed railway and there are lots of people who will actually be blighted by it. People will find homes devalued while swathes of the countryside will be destroyed for no good reason. Many people will simply not be able to afford the fares. The project lines the pockets of the construction industry.


"HS2 will not boost economies in the North. Far from it. It is a loss making scheme. Instead the UK should invest that massive amount of money in developing better infrastructure, including transport between and within towns and cities. This is where the real potential for development lies.  The UK is supposedly taking painful austerity measures with huge cuts to services and infrastructure, yet the Government is adamant on spending £34 billion on a service that will only benefit the richest in society.  There has been a lot of spin and a lot of propaganda about HS2. But I am sure if people knew the facts, they would most certainly not be in support."



David Cameron's speech and the EU referendum



I have written an article for the local South Yorkshire Politics website about these issues, which some readers may find to be of interest.  The other political parties have also written articles, and I must say that I am surprised by the tone of the Conservatives' article which seems designed to poke fun at anyone who is not a Conservative.  If you're interested, my article can be found at http://www.sypolitics.org.uk/2013/02/europe-south-yorkshire-a-ukip-perspective/.



And finally...



A couple of lighter historical snippets to finish on.  I was reading The London Evening Standard on my way back from the NEC meeting, which reports that it's not just the bones of Richard III that have been found under a car park.  Apparently a spine has also been uncovered, leading some Conservative backbenchers to speculate that it's David Cameron's backbone....


A relative of  Guy Fawkes has joined UKIP, with the intention of getting into Parliament through more legitimate means than his ancestor.  Philip Fawkes has joined UKIP and signalled his intention to seek nomination for a Parliamentary seat.  UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP couldn't resist asking the traditional question on Twitter: "Was Guy Fawkes the last man to enter Westminster with honest intentions?"
On a (slightly) more serious note, he said "I'm absolutely delighted to welcome Philip aboard into our ever-expanding team, It is obvious that the blood of rebellion still runs in his veins".


In my view, this story has been blown up out of all proportion.  UKIP has an explosion of talent at present, but the media focus only on this new candidate because they have us over a barrel.  No doubt I will get a number of fiery responses to this newsletter, but be careful what you say because I have a short fuse.  Anyway that's enough of that.  I'm off to powder my nose.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

I am delighted to be able to inform you that the Party membership has today gone past 22,000.  UKIP membership has risen sharply in recent months with an increase of over 20% year-on-year.  Members will of course recall that the Party membership passed 20,000 and then 21,000 within a few weeks of each other.  The pace of growth in the Party's membership shows no signs of abating.


There has been huge interest in the Eastleigh by-election.  The Party has an office at 38 Market Street near the train station, and an incredible 17 people put their names forward to be the candidate.  Cllr. Diane James has been selected as the candidate (more details later in the newsletter).  We now desperately need volunteers to come down and help with the campaign.  The office will, as usual, be open every day.  We urgently need volunteers to turn up to the office at 10am tomorrow morning, for the launch of our candidate.  For more information about the Eastleigh campaign or to help out, please contact Lisa Duffy on 07890 110225 or by email at partydirector@ukip.org.

Party Chairman Steve Crowther described our candidate, Diana James, as follows: "Diane James is an absolutely superb candidate for our Eastleigh campaign, which is why the Branch chose her at their hustings on Sunday, against excellent competition. She has very extensive business experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare fields, including both private and public sectors. She is multi-lingual, highly qualified and experienced, and also has a great track record in local government, albeit as an independent. At a time when some are trying to portray UKIP as a one-man band, lacking depth and short of senior female members, Diane is just the person for us to get behind as we put the cat among the pigeons in Eastleigh."



Final call for volunteer moderators



The UKIP members' forum will be going back up in the next couple of weeks.  I will be appointing a number of new moderators before it does.  If anyone who has not already expressed an interest would like to become a moderator (or is happy to volunteer) please let me know by replying to this newsletter.  I'll be contacting everyone who has volunteered shortly.



UKIP candidate announced for Eastleigh by-election



UKIP is delighted to announce that Cllr. Diane James has been selected as the party's candidate in the Eastleigh by election.  Cllr. James, a healthcare expert, became involved in local politics after becoming "utterly disillusioned" with political interference at a local level.  She joined UKIP in 2010 after deciding that they were the only party which represented her views on the political scene.


"I joined UKIP not only because of their policy on grammar schools, which I benefitted from when I was younger, but because I believe that the UK would be able to thrive outside the EU.  I am honoured to have been selected for Eastleigh by UKIP and I plan to fight hard and show the people of the constituency that they can vote for someone with integrity and commitment; a real opposition to the failed policies of the coalition and the virtually invisible Labour Party.


"There are many local issues in the constituency I will be campaigning on, such as the closure of Ford and the hypocrisy of the Lib Dems over local housing where they have repeatedly misinformed the people of Eastleigh that locals will get priority for new housing. We know that this is illegal under EU law but will the Lib Dems risk their popularity by telling voters the truth?"


UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "Diane has a successful record as a healthcare and political campaigner and she wants to stand up for ordinary communities who are being so badly affected by the coalition government in this country."



Opinion poll shows UKIP up to 16% in Eastleigh



An opinion poll shows that UKIP support has grown to 16% in Eastleigh, just weeks before polling day.  The Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday showed the Liberal Democrats in the lead on 36%, with Conservatives on 33% and Labour on 13%.



Malvern councillor joins UKIP



Councillor Mike Soley, who resigned from the Conservative Party last month, has joined UKIP.  He said that he was not permitted to do the job of representing local people by the Conservative Party: "I stood for district councillor to represent the residents of both Malvern Link and the Malvern Hills area in general, not to be forced to vote along party lines on issues which I, and many others, know to be against the wishes of the majority of residents," he said.  For more information please visit http://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/10216501.Councillor_who_quit_the_Tories_joins_UKIP/.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

Well, what a week it's been!  In the last few minutes, the results of the Eastleigh by-election have been declared.  UKIP has just taken 11,571 votes – 27.8% of the vote – in a Parliamentary by-election, finishing in second place yet again.  Not only that, but we were well under two thousand votes short of winning the seat!  The result in Eastleigh has been absolutely amazing – remember, less than a fortnight ago the bookmakers had Labour as odds-on to finish ahead of UKIP in third place.  But tonight, UKIP has taken its best by-election result ever in a seat where we'd taken just 3.6% of the vote in 2010.  This seat was 'supposed' to be a Lib Dem v Conservative marginal in which UKIP would get squeezed.  Parties just don't come from so far behind in a 'two-horse-race' to muscle in on the seat.


Yet this time, that's exactly what has happened.  We broke the mould.  The Lib Dem vote was DOWN by 14.5%, the Conservative vote DOWN by 14% - and the UKIP vote UP by a staggering 24%!  Throughout the night, the BBC has repeatedly talked about the UKIP result as the 'big story' of the night.  Of course, the UKIP vote was the 'big story' in Rotherham, just like it was in Corby and Middlesbrough and Barnsley.  UKIP was the big story of 2012, and although we didn't win the seat, for the first time voters have started to believe that UKIP could take a Parliamentary seat under our First Past The Post system.  UKIP candidate Diane James described the result as 'momentous', and attributed our success to more than just a protest vote – saying that "We weren't needing to raise issues.  All we were doing was to substantiate that [what they were already saying] and complete the picture by getting them to vote UKIP."


Nigel Farage MEP said "It is a dramatic surge.  We got 3.6% here in the General Election.  It's been the minimum period for this election to take place, and actually on the votes cast today we're first.  Where we're not first of course is on the postal votes, and so the Lib Dem strategy of getting this out of the way was right from their perspective.  We're delighted, it's a huge step forward for our Party."  With a touch of irony, he added "If the Conservatives hadn't split our vote, we'd have won" - before adding on a more serious note that we had taken votes from across the board – Labour, Lib Dem, Conservative and previous non-voters.  Paddy Ashdown even admitted in public what many of us in UKIP have been saying in private: if the Eastleigh campaign had gone on just one more week, UKIP would have won.  The momentum was with us.


Congratulations must go to the entire team who made this result possible.  Never before have we had so many activists pour into a constituency and I'm told that even on polling day we had over 90 UKIP members out on the ground, telling and getting out the vote.  But especially there are two people in particular who deserve the utmost congratulations.  Lisa Duffy (Party Director) has managed this campaign with complete professionalism and every by-election adds to the innovation of the UKIP machine.  Diane James, our candidate, has been an absolute gem and shown huge dedication in this campaign.  Her assured performances on the doorstep and at hustings have been a credit to the Party.


The Conservative Party of course used today as an opportunity to show their 'nasty' side, releasing a leaflet in UKIP colours trying to deceive voters into believing various negative comments about UKIP and persuade them to vote Conservative instead.  We had a priceless moment tonight when Paul Nuttall produced a copy of the leaflet on television – to the clear chagrin of Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps who was on the sofa opposite.


Another beautiful moment of Paul's appearance was when the Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes pointed out how embarrassing it is for the traditional parties, for UKIP to have overtaken Labour and the Conservatives in such a seat as Eastleigh.  Paul agreed, but reminded him that UKIP have overtaken the Liberal Democrats in Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Barnsley and Corby – so they have no right to avoid such embarrassment!


On any other night, a UKIP appearance on Question Time would be the top story of the night.  Not tonight.  But Neil Hamilton's performance was one of real gravitas, and certainly merits a closer look when it's available.  At the time of writing this newsletter, it is not YET available on the BBC iplayer but it will soon be available from this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r1twc.




Eastleigh by-election results in full



Liberal Democrats – 13,342

Diane James, UKIP – 11,571

Conservative – 10,559

Labour – 4,088

Independent – 768

National Health Action – 392

Beer, Baccy and Crumpet Party – 235

Christian Party – 163

Monster Raving Loony Party – 136

Peace Party – 128

Elvis Loves Pets Party – 72

English Democrats – 70

TUSC – 62

Wessex Regionalist – 30



UKIP stalwart Jim MacArthur dies



I've been informed this evening of the sad news that Jim MacArthur, who stood for UKIP at the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in November in Northamptonshire, has died suddenly at the age of 70.  Jim had served in the SAS and later became a successful businessman.  Local MEP Derek Clark said "He was an enthusiastic member of the party who ran the local branch with purpose and vigour.  He was doing well in the process of persuading people to stand for UKIP in the County Council elections and he will be a sad loss to us.  As well as running his own campaign he also spent a lot of time helping our candidate in the Corby by-election and nothing was ever too much trouble for him."



And finally...



I often finish forum newsletters on a lighter note, and this one had me in stitches of laughter..  The winner of the Eastleigh by-election began his acceptance speech by thanking the police.  It is rumoured on Twitter that Neil Hamilton responded by saying "Right, because otherwise there wouldn't have been a by-election."


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

We have two big pieces of news today: First of all, Diane James (who was UKIP's candidate at the Eastleigh by-election) will be appearing on Question Time tonight (7th March). UKIP will now have had two representatives on Question Time in two weeks, which is I believe a first for us.


Secondly, the Party's membership continues to rise about as fast as the mileage on my car – ticking over another thousand every few weeks. This morning I received the news that the Party membership has now gone past 23,000 and the surge in membership shows no signs of slowing.



38% of voters considering UKIP



A recent opinion poll by YouGov put us on 12% of the vote (our highest ever recorded with that polling company). In previous newsletters, I've discussed opinion polling in some detail and why it's important not to read too much (or too little) into them. Another recent poll by TNS-BMRB puts UKIP on 14% of the vote (with the Liberal Democrats on 11%).  But one of the interesting details is that 38% of people 'would consider' voting for UKIP – suggesting that UKIP could rise further in the polls in the coming months.


YouGov has also published aggregate data from all its polls in February. It is the only polling company which polls every day, and therefore it is able to find enough UKIP voters to get a bigger picture about the kind of people who usually vote UKIP. As this was released at the same time as their poll putting us on 12% of the vote, some people wrongly thought that it was the same opinion poll. These results from February actually found 2,788 UKIP voters – a large sample from which to draw some conclusions.


According to YouGov, UKIP voters consider themselves to be less right-wing than Conservative voters. Specifically, 46% of UKIP voters see themselves as right-wing, compared with 60% of Conservative voters. UKIP voters are more likely to read red-top tabloid newspapers (but still less likely than Labour voters) and less likely to read the 'upmarket' press. Also, more than half of UKIP voters are educated only to GCSE level. This perhaps has some implications for branches when designing County Council election leaflets.


UKIP voters are (slightly) more likely to be religious than Labour and Conservative voters, with 59% of UKIP voters considering themselves to belong to a particular religion. The figures are 56% and 50% for Conservatives and Labour respectively. 57% of UKIP voters are male, with just 43% being female.

A staggering 71% of UKIP voters are aged over 50. This is interesting – and has both positives and negatives. In terms of our long-term future, we would like to have a lot more younger voters. But with older voters being much more likely to vote, and less likely to change their minds about who to vote for, this has to bode well for the chances of UKIP beating our polling result at elections. Remember that the last five Eastleigh by-election polls put UKIP on 13%, 16%, 21%, 21% and 21% - yet at the election we actually took 28%. There were a number of factors which led to us outperforming our polling by so much, but this really bodes well for the future.



County Council Elections



With County Council elections happening in many areas across the country on May 2nd, the Party will field more candidates than we have ever done in the past. Just over 2,500 seats are up for grabs and a week ago, the total number of candidates selected passed 1,500. We are aiming to have a candidate in every seat – but at a minimum we would like to reach 2,000 candidates. That means we need people to volunteer to put their names forward.


We believe in democracy – everyone should have the opportunity to vote UKIP if they want to. Some people may wish to stand, not to run a campaign or try to get elected, but simply to give people that opportunity to exercise what should be a democratic right to vote UKIP! Standing at an election may seem quite scary at first, but the actual effort involved in getting on the ballot paper is not that huge. At the Spring Conference in Exeter we will even be running some training for people who want to take that first step and give their local area an opportunity to have a candidate to vote for.


The traditional term for such candidates is 'paper candidate' but actually, they fill a very important role. So, if you would like to be a 'democracy candidate' please let your local branch know. Remember that not every area has County Council elections – in particular those living in the Metropolitan Borough Councils will not have elections this year. Of course, if you live outside an area holding County Council elections but work in it, you will still probably be eligible to stand.


Spring Conference: Not to be missed



UKIP's Spring Conference promises an electric atmosphere after the UKIP surge at Eastleigh. This year's Spring Conference is definitely not to be missed, so I thought I'd put out a quick reminder with the Conference only just over a fortnight away. The main day of the Conference will be Saturday 23rd March, with a training day for candidates and others on 24th March. To book your tickets, please go to http://www.ukip.org/shop/product/view/94-ukip-2013-spring-conference-tickets.


UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP reacts to absurd claims by Lib Dem peer



UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP has responded to bizarre claims by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Tyler that UKIP is "fuelling the same distrust of foreigners that triggered World War One". In the Daily Mail, Nigel Farage said "I know a lot about the First World War and its origins and I know that in the wake of it we formed something called Yugoslavia to stop Balkan conflicts and look where that got us. It is totally absurd, and I would invite Lord Tyler to go and visit Athens and see real hatred. They now hate the Germans more than at any time since 1945. I want us to have a Europe of independent nation states that trade and co-operate together. But if you force people together against their will, history tells us the long-term outcome will be deeply, deeply unpleasant. You breed extreme nationalism. Lord Tyler is 50 years out of date with his analysis of what Europe is.'"


Roger Helmer MEP welcomes new UKIP councillor



UKIP's Roger Helmer MEP has welcomed UKIP's latest defection, Councillor David Sprayston. Roger Helmer said "Recent by-elections prove UKIP is now the only party resonating with the people of this country. In our region, our membership is growing as voters begin to recognise what UKIP can offer. I look forward to working with Councillor Sprayson as we make every effort to ensure that after May we have more than one UKIP county councillor in Leicestershire."

[admin]

Following on from last week's poll which put UKIP at 17% of the vote nationally, a poll by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday also puts UKIP on 17%.  These are new highs for UKIP.  The front page of this morning's Sunday Telegraph also reports on the UKIP rise in the polls.  Their polling with ICM shows that a 'key group' of voters are attracted by UKIP's policies on issues like immigration, government spending and same-sex marriage.


Recently, UKIP has been getting councillors elected under First Past The Post – as I reported here, Chris Browne and Louise Bours both had sensational wins at Council by-elections, winning wards traditionally held by the Conservatives.  The result from Adur District Council had not yet come in at the time of sending the last newsletter, but the UKIP vote there increased from 7% to 30% - and the UKIP candidate came within just 50 votes of winning.  UKIP continues to gain councillors even since I last sent out a newsletter on Thursday night, this time with two more defections joining us.



Councillors join UKIP



Wiltshire councillor Rob Eaton, a former mayor of Melksham, has left the Conservative Party and announced his intention to defend his seat as UKIP.  Cllr. Eaton said "I no longer believe any of the three parties represent the people and have become quite disenchanted with the Conservatives.  I had lost interest in standing as a Conservative councillor, but when UKIP came along I thought their policies were much closer to what the people want. I have had it in my mind for a year or two, but have been thinking whether to stand down altogether or stand for a party I believe in."


But for sheer timing, the defection of Cllr. Victoria Ayling to UKIP was absolutely perfect.  At the Conservative Party Spring Conference, she announced her defection to UKIP by approaching David Cameron to tell him on her way out.  She had been the Conservative candidate for Great Grimsby at the 2010 General Election, and was only 700 votes short of winning.  UKIP's Spring Conference takes place this weekend in Exeter (some tickets still available) and I think we can safely predict that the mood at the UKIP Spring Conference will be far better than the mood at the Conservatives' one.



Report on March NEC meeting



Present: Steve Crowther, Party Chairman (SC), Nigel Farage MEP, Party Leader (NF), Paul Nuttall MEP, Deputy Leader (PN) George Curtis (GC), Sebastian Fairweather (SF) (from 1.25pm), Gerard Batten MEP (GB), Neil Hamilton (NH), Michael McGough (MM), Hugh Williams (HW), Alan Bown (AB), David Coburn (DC) (from 1.10pm), Chris Pain (CP), Piers Wauchope (PW), Steven Woolfe (SWo), Douglas Denny.


Also present: Pete Reeve, Nominating Officer (PR), Michael Greaves, Party Secretary (MG), Stuart Wheeler, Party Treasurer (SW), Will Gilpin, Chief Executive (WG), Lisa Duffy, Party Director (LD), Jonathan Arnott, General Secretary (JA) (minutes), Rob Burberry (RB).  Apologies for absence were received from Louise Bours, who is fighting an election campaign on Thursday [and was elected, as explained above].


The meeting started at 1.06pm.  SC welcomed the new NEC members, and the minutes of the previous meeting were approved.


NF reported that sending a letter to every voter in Eastleigh before the start of the campaign was crucial.  Much of what we did in Eastleigh went well and will come up under the by-election report itself.  We need to get even better at going in earlier.  This is all about development.  NF wants to write personally to thank every single person who came to Eastleigh to help – and to ask them 'will you join our 48-hour response team'?


On the night in Eastleigh, we won.  On the night in Rotherham, we were neck and neck with Labour.  We need to get even better at targeting postal voters.  We took more votes from the Lib Dems in Eastleigh than we took from the Conservatives.  If you include previous non-voters, only a third of our vote came from the Conservative Party.  The more publicity we get in the red-tops, the lower the percentage of our vote comes from the Conservatives.  Interestingly, in Rotherham and Eastleigh we have taken more votes overall than any other Party.


SC would like to say how much we owe to LD in the work that she does in creating these results.  People are saying "we love the way that you campaign" - because we are talking to people in the way that parties used to campaign.  We have already sold hundreds of tickets for Spring Conference.


The NEC approved the formation of branches in Bristol, Tewkesbury, Wansbeck, Morpeth, North Warwickshire, Mid Norfolk and Preston.  It also approved the splitting of the Hastings and Bexhill branches.
 

The annual Party Conference will be on 20th and 21st September this year in London.  WG hopes that we will have the new London office up and running within the next few weeks.  The Party's bank balance remains healthy, but a substantial amount of money was spent on the Eastleigh campaign.


We currently have only 1,543 Council candidates selected for this year's County Council elections.  In the South East we have 92% of seats covered, Eastern Counties 84%, and North West 75%.  We need to reach at least 2,000 and ideally have a candidate in every seat across the country.  There was a substantial discussion about the Local Manifesto, and it was eventually decided not to commit to cutting Council Tax.


Several changes to the Party's Rules of Procedure (Section X, C.3.6, C.3.7, K.19, M.2, W.1.1, AA.1.2, B.4.1.3, B.4.5) were approved.  Various ideas were discussed for the Party's 20th anniversary celebrations.  The meeting ended at 4.59pm.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

[admin]

The UKIP membership has now passed 24,000.  This happened a few days ago, so my apologies for not mentioning it in the previous forum newsletter.  I was rather caught up by the other big story (the by-election campaign in South Shields), where I understand that a number of people have put their names forward as potential candidates.


Winning Council seats has started to become 'business as usual' for UKIP, as the Party has won a Council by-election for the fourth week in a row.  Louise Bours started this trend, followed by Chris Browne, Lawrence Webb – and now Denis Allen.  Of course, the number of Council by-elections will diminish as we get closer to the 'main' election day of May 2nd, but long may this trend continue!  The result for the Dothill ward of Wellington Town Council was:


UKIP – Denis Allen – 303

Labour – 151

Conservative - 108

Lib Dem – 90


Not only did Denis Allen get elected with 46% of the vote, he also took more votes than Labour and the Conservatives combined! 


Nigel Farage public meetings 3rd and 5th April



On Wednesday 3rd April, UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP will be holding a public meeting at the Worcester Guildhall.  Nigel Farage will spend the rest of Wednesday and Thursday on the campaign trail in the West Midlands, meeting local voters and campaigning against HS2 alongside local MEP Mike Nattrass.  Mike Nattrass said "The two-day tour of the region will give us the opportunity to meet many local people who feel bitterly let down by the tired old Lib/Lab/Con party which appears now to be a political amalgamation based on a single policy...."Let the EU rule."


From there, Nigel Farage will travel to Gravesend where there will be another chance for members of the public to hear him speak.  On Friday 5th April at 7.30pm there will be a public meeting in Gravesend with UKIP Leader Nigel Farage  MEP.  The venue will be the Best Western Hotel, Gravesend, DA12 5UQ.  Daily Mail columnist Simon Heffer will also be speaking at the meeting, for which tickets are free.  If you are interested in attending (or better still, if you know any non-UKIP members who might like to come), then tickets can be booked by email at nigelsmeeting@gmail.com or by phone on 01634 868269.



Gerard Batten in the Daily Express



UKIP's Gerard Batten MEP was quoted in the Daily Express after a Romanian criminal gang was jailed for a total of 82 years.  The case was interesting for the judge's comments, which were clear and unequivocal: "There has been recent comment in the press and elsewhere suggesting that next year will bring a large influx of migrants from eastern Europe. Anyone who comes to the UK intent to commit serious crime must clearly understand that any such abuse of the hospitality of this country and its people will be severely punished.


"That is a warning which must firmly be emphasised by our courts and clearly understood by those with such intent. No one should think for a moment that the courts of the UK will be a soft touch.  Hence sentences in a case such as this should serve as a powerful and effective deterrent, not just to home-grown but also to imported criminals."


It is reported  that at the time of arrest, one of the criminals had said "I don't care.  I go to prison to go on holiday."  UKIP's Gerard Batten MEP was quoted in the Express as saying "These are sterling words and are to be applauded," he said. "But it is just a tip of the iceberg of crime and he and British justice are condemned to being unable to deport these people, nor are we able to stop them returning due to our membership of the European Union. And with the relaxing of controls on Bulgarians and Romanians in the new year this is set to get worse."  For the full article, please see http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/387867/Keep-out-judge-tells-Romanians-as-gang-is-jailed-for-82-years .



Another councillor jumps ship to UKIP



The Deputy Leader of Horsham District Council has joined UKIP.  Roger Arthur becomes the latest in a long line of new UKIP councillors, with a suggestion that there could be more to follow.  Roger Arthur said "I had hoped to see a strong sense of conviction re-emerging from within the Tory executive, along with some of the core values that sustained the party in better times. Unfortunately that hope is fading and there is much evidence that the leadership is out of touch with members and with the real world.


"A lot of traditional supporters have been disappointed at the continuing lack of strong direction. Many of those were footsoldiers, who have been departing in their droves, such that quite a few local associations are no longer viable as fighting machines.  I regret having to take this action but I need to be free to criticise the current leadership in public and without constraint."  For the full story, please see http://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/news/local/top-horsham-tory-defects-to-ukip-exclusive-1-4950972.



YouGov poll shows UKIP 'most trusted Party' on immigration



A poll released on Tuesday shows (for the second time) that UKIP are trusted more than any other Party on the issue of immigration. 24% of the public would put their faith in UKIP to deal with the issue, compared to 19% for the Conservatives, 12% for the Labour Party and 5% for the Liberal Democrats.  Further details of the poll can be found online on the YouGov website at http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/03/26/ukip-lead-immigration/.

[admin]

UKIP has 1,727 candidates at the County Council elections this year – just 33 behind the Liberal Democrats across the country.  This is a monumental effort, and credit must go to everyone across the country who has helped to achieve this.  But imagine what a story it would have been if we had just an extra forty candidates nationally, and had managed to achieve more candidates than the Lib Dems.  This is, of course, the reason that we have pushed this so hard in recent weeks.  When looking at candidate numbers and results, all comparisons should be made with the 'equivalent point in the electoral cycle' – ie. the time when the same seats were up for grabs, in 2009.


In 2009, we had just 593 candidates.  We should remember that four years ago, the Green Party and the BNP both fielded more candidates than UKIP.  Such is the BNP's decline (and UKIP's rise) that this year, they field just 100 candidates across the country.  The Green Party have traditionally done well in getting candidates to stand at the County Council elections, but this year we have almost double their tally of 877.


One interesting piece of trivia is that UKIP are the ONLY Party to field a full slate of candidates in Surrey.  A Conservative sitting councillor made a mistake on nomination papers, with Lib Dems and Labour never expecting to field a full slate, leaving UKIP the only Party standing everywhere in Surrey.  This must, surely, present us with a fantastic opportunity for a UKIP gain.  After another Council by-election success, this time in North-East Lincolnshire, it is now five weeks in a row that UKIP has picked up a seat at a Council by-election.  Meanwhile, the total number of UKIP branches has for the first time passed 300.  The medium-term aim for the Party is for us to have a branch in every constituency in the country.


But of course the sad news of Margaret Thatcher's death will overshadow everything else in British politics for a while.  UKIP members have a diverse range of opinions on her political career, but I hope that none of our members take the disgusting attitude that has been shown by some on the 'left' of British politics, who have 'celebrated' her death.



Statement on the death of Margaret Thatcher



Following the announcement of the death of Margaret Thatcher from a stroke, at the age of 87, UKIP Leader Nigel Farage issued the following statement:  "I have always said that Mrs Thatcher was a great inspiration to me personally. Whether you loved her or hated her nobody could deny that she was a great patriot, who believed passionately in this country and her people.


"A towering figure in recent British and political history has passed from the stage. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family."  Mr Farage, who is visiting Grantham this afternoon (9 April) to sign the book of remembrance, said that the party would leave to its branches the decision on whether to suspend campaigning for the local elections.


"One of my abiding memories of Mrs Thatcher is that on the morning after the Brighton bombing, she was on the Party Conference platform at 9.00 o'clock, ready to carry on.  In recent years she made clear that she believed that we should leave the European Union, so I think it is appropriate we should carry on working. Individual UKIP branches can make their own minds up, and some have decided to suspend campaigning for a period."



Time extended for applications to stand in Portsmouth South



UKIP's NEC has voted to re-open applications for members to stand as the UKIP caniddate in Portsmouth South.  Previously, we had received information suggesting that a snap election would be called and therefore applications had closed last month.  Given that the election has not yet been called, it seemed fair to extend the deadline and allow further applications.  Therefore, anyone who wishes their name to be considered should contact Lisa Duffy at partydirector@ukip.org immediately.



Nigel Farage Common Sense Tour goes down a storm



The Nigel Farage 'Common Sense Tour' has been reported in local and national press, showing that UKIP aren't afraid to talk to real voters in public meetings, unlike the stage-managed audiences of other parties.  Every single meeting has packed  out venues, with some bursting at the seams.  But if one appearance sums up what this tour is all about, it must be the meeting at the Worcester Guildhall.


At Worcester, the venue was overcrowded (and health and safety officials over-zealous) when 350 people turned up to a venue able to hold just 180.  As people moaned outside the hall about being denied entrance, Nigel Farage went up to a balcony – and addressed the crowd waiting outside with an impromptu speech.  He began with the words "Thank you all so much for coming tonight.  I am so sorry EU health and safety rules make it impossible to let more of you inside."  The speech calmed the crowd outside, and showed just how determined UKIP are to get the message across (to say nothing of how determined people are to hear it).  A detailed article about the tour in the Daily Telegraph is very much worth a read: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9976506/Nigel-Farage-savours-the-Heineken-effect.html.



Local government gains make national news



National newspapers have commented on UKIP's rise in local government.  The newspapers don't quote Town Council gains (for anyone wondering why I'm quoting 5 UKIP gains in 5 weeks, whilst the newspapers quote UKIP as having made just 3).  But the way in which this has been reported is fantastic news for UKIP. This year, we have already gained 30 councillors through both election and defection, whilst we have made more net gains at Council by-elections this year than Labour!  UKIP's Local Government spokesman Cllr. Peter Reeve was quoted as saying "There is no longer anywhere in the country where a Ukip vote fails to make a difference. We are winning councillors through our ideas and winning seats through our hard work."  If you want to read the full story, there is a choice of any of a number of newspapers but I'll quote the Telegraph article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9974498/Ukip-defections-surge-in-local-election-threat-to-Tories.html.



North East Lincolnshire Council result in full




Congratulations to Stephen Harness, who won his Council by-election on North-East Lincolnshire Council on Thursday.  He becomes the second UKIP representative on that Council, joining Ron Shepherd who was elected in May last year.


This by-election always looked like a good chance for a UKIP gain, and the final result did not disappoint – with UKIP the only Party to surpass 1,000 votes.  The result in full:


Stephen Harness – UKIP – 1098

Con 738

Lab 470

Lib Dem 311


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)