UKIP

Started by admin, September 05, 2012, 04: PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

admin

The big news at present is of course the crisis in Syria, on which senior Party figures have been commenting over recent days.  Internally, the current issues of note are the Party Conference (which is perhaps the most exciting in recent times), the NEC elections (those wishing to stand may now apply for a nomination pack from Head Office) and the MEP selection process.



UKIP statement on Syria



UKIP has issued the following statement on Syria: We have been in Afghanistan for longer than the first and second world wars put together and the benefits to the civilians of the country are marginally increased yet the price paid in money and blood by British troops is enormous.  There is no clear proof it was the Assad regime who used chemical weapons.  We have no idea who the rebels are - a point UKIP has been making since the start and we opposed the arming of the rebels who it has been indicated have extremist Islamic elements.


The MoD is already struggling with budget cuts and troops are being made redundant, many with very few opportunities of jobs on civvy street during this economic decline.  It, quite simply, is not our business anyway. We are not world policemen.  We saw a decade ago what happens with dodgy evidence being given to Parliament and we must not repeat the mistakes of Iraq.


The Party is holding a press conference on the issue this morning, and Nigel Farage has already been featured in an article for the Daily Express on the subject.  Under the headline 'Nigel Farage echoes the people's view on Syria', the Express states "Not for the first time, it falls to UKIP leader Nigel Farage to speak up for the British public and against an out-of-touch political class."


Opinion polling shows that, although voters of all parties oppose military intervention in Syria,  UKIP voters are the group most strongly opposed to British intervention.  UKIP voters oppose missile strikes in Syria by a margin of 68% to 22%.  By contrast, Conservative voters are the most supportive of such strikes: they oppose it by 'only' 45% to 35%.


UKIP Leader Nigel Farage's stance can be seen on a recent BBC News interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pxp61tYJcw.



Conference 2013: Celebrate 20 years of UKIP



A quick reminder about this year's Party Conference, for which tickets are selling fast.  The atmosphere promises to be electric, especially considering the recent surge in UKIP membership.  UKIP membership continues to rise (although the summer months are always somewhat slower), and currently stands at 30,500.


We are celebrating the Party's 20th anniversary and are hosting our biggest ever conference in London at the Central Hall, Westminster.  The two-day conference takes place on September 20-21 and tickets are already available so make sure you book early.  Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.ukip.org/conference20.



European elections candidate selection



You may have read in the news that a legal challenge was raised to UKIP's selection process for MEP candidates.  An application for an injunction was heard yesterday, which failed.  The judge explained that the process was not only fair but that it was designed to be fair, that the rules make it fair and that there was no evidence that the rules had been breached.  This legal case did result in a short delay in printing ballot papers, but this is now going ahead and members should receive ballot papers shortly.  The Party was awarded costs from the applicant.



NEC Elections



Any members wishing to stand for the National Executive Committee may now apply for a nomination form from Head Office on 01626 831290 or by email at mail@ukip.org.  There are currently 4 vacancies on the NEC.  The cost to stand is £100, which is non-returnable.  Candidates require a proposer, seconder and eight assentors who are members of the Party in good standing.  Close of nominations will be 19th September.



British taxes should not be shelling out for migrant welfare payments



It is utterly wrong that 407,000 non-UK nationals are receiving benefits. The fact that this has risen by more than 118,000 since 2008 is especially worrying and UKIP thinks that a fresh approach must be taken to tackle this soaring cost.  Lets be clear: British taxpayers should not be paying for the benefits of those who chose to come here.  We must take back control of our borders. Our open border policy as per our membership of the European Union has meant that almost 50,000 migrants from Eastern Europe are now claiming benefits in Britain. This must stop.


We welcome migrants, but only those who we need and who bring expertise to Britain. In a time of extraordinary economic hardship for our own citizens, taxpayers cannot subsidize the lives of those from other countries.  UKIP is clear that extending open borders next year to Romania and Bulgaria is likely to only increase the burden on British citizens. We stand against this and urge the government to act.



Young Independence gold medal



Do you think there is a YI member who has gone above and beyond the standard expectations of a UKIP member? Whether it's endless hours of leafleting, a phenomenal surge in branch/university society membership figures, or, just something that you feel is exceptional within the scope of UKIP work, we want to hear from you.


Please send in your entries along with your membership number and the reasons as to why you feel the individual deserves the award, the YI council will then pick the best entry and the award will be given out at the YI Conference. Please send your e-mails to yi.secretary@ukip.orgwith 'YI Gold Medal' in the subject heading.


Best wishes,

admin

As ever, the start of September has seen much internal Party activity.  Monday's NEC meeting will be the subject of a full report in the next newsletter.  The national Conference is coming up in London, and Young Independence are holding their first Conference just before it.  Young Independence have come up with a 'bring a friend' initiative for discounted tickets to the YI Conference for non-members of the Party.  On Thursday, an event billed as the 'biggest ever UKIP public meeting in the Midlands' will take place in Telford and feature an array of speakers including Nigel Farage MEP.  On 15th September there will be another huge UKIP event, this time in Bradford as a Northern event.


Party Director Lisa Duffy has taken over the operation of the London office, and instituted professional working systems.  The transformation in motivation and direction in the team of staff has been extraordinary in such a short period of time.



UKIP National Conference



The UKIP 2013 National Conference, to be held at the Central Hall in Westminster, promises to be the biggest that the Party has ever organised.  Although most ticket sales have traditionally come in the last couple of weeks before Conference, Rob Burberry from the Conference Team reports that sales passed the all-important 500 figure some time ago.  If previous years are anything to go by, this indicates that this will be UKIP's largest ever Conference by some margin.


It being our 20th year as a Party, there are a number of special events planned.  We have commissioned a limited edition 20th anniversary ale, a 20th anniversary birthday cake (thanks to David Cameron, we are assured that this will be a fruit cake) as well as some special mystery guests.  There will be a 20th anniversary magazine (over 50 pages) with specially-commissioned photographs and articles, and other commemorative merchandise.


As the Party has grown and become ever more successful we have had to adopt some security measures.  To speed up your entry to the Conference venue, please bring your membership card.  Bags may be subject to searches.  Members are strongly advised to purchase tickets in advance.


The impressive array of speakers will include some of our newly-elected councillors, two MEPs from the EFD Group and a number of top UKIP luminaries headed of course by Nigel Farage MEP.  The media interest in this year's Conference will be greater than ever before.  To apply for Conference tickets online, the correct link is http://www.ukip.org/54-events/727-ukip-2013-conference-ticket-application.



Public meeting in the West Midlands



UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP will take centre stage at the largest public meeting the party as ever held in the Midlands.  Organised by local councillor Jill Seymour and featuring speakers including Paul Nuttall MEP, Christopher Gill and Bill Etheridge, it promises to be an event to kick start the election campaigns in the region.


2014 is a huge year for UKIP as the party seeks to win the European Elections and secure local councillors all over the country in the district and borough elections.  The meeting is being held at The International Centre in Telford on Thursday, September 5, 2013 and doors open at 1845hrs.  For more information or to book your place contact Cllr. Jill Seymour on jill_Seymour@btopenworld.com or 07778 792054.



Northern UKIP meeting and free gourmet buffet



Amjad Bashir and Mujeeb Bhutto are organising a public UKIP event at the Hilton Hotel in Bradford, BD1 5SH on the 15th September from 12 noon to 6pm.  Amjad is the UKIP spokesman for small and medium businesses, and will be hosting the event which features a free gourmet buffet.  The full list of speakers has not yet been finalised, but headline speakers will include UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall MEP, Godfrey Bloom MEP, UKIP General Secretary Jonathan Arnott, Jane Collins (Yorkshire Regional Organiser) and Cllr. Louise Bours.  Tickets should be booked in advance; to book your place please email amjad.bashir@ukip.org.



NEC elections



As you are already aware, the NEC elections are coming up and nomination forms are now available from Head Office on 01626 831290.  One NEC member will be taking up a paid position with the Party.  There will be more information on this subject at a later date, but paid employees of the Party cannot be on the NEC so there will be more vacancies than advertised in the issue of Independence News which is currently hitting doormats.  More information to follow on this subject.  At the NEC meeting on Monday, Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary) was appointed as the Returning Officer for the NEC elections.



Pressure on school places



Increasing pressure on Britain's schools fuelled by a migrant baby boom once again demonstrates the damaging and debilitating result of mass uncontrolled immigration.  It is UKIP's view that controlled migration into the UK which is managed properly is a positive thing.  However the Labour policy of mass open door EU migration which has sadly been continued by the present Coalition government has seen dire consequences for communities up and down the country.


Enormous pressure has been placed on local services such as schools who must now provide places for numbers which are increasing at a rapid rate due to the large scale influx of migrant families. Class sizes are now regularly surpassing 30, which is the recommended maximum class size.  UKIP calls for a sensible immigration policy which allows skilled migrants to bring their expertise to our country. But as has been demonstrated by Britain's impending schools crisis, an open door policy is leading to chaos in our communities and placing a heavy burden on services.


Meanwhile, a news report in Poland earlier this year stating that around 1,000 schools are at risk of closure due to under subscription makes for interesting reading on the day that the LGA announce half of all primary schools in the UK are over-subscribed.  The report from Polskie Radio says that around 1,000 Polish schools, the majority at Primary level, are being forced to close due to falling class numbers. Today the LGA reports that half of English primary schools, also around 1,000, will be oversubscribed by 2015.  In an interview with the Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper, Antoni Jezowski from Poland's Institute of Educational Research (IBO) admits that the figures are accurate as a result of an ongoing demographic plunge.


UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall says the comparison is not 'an entirely direct correlation but absolutely must be taken as more than coincidence.'  "We've been saying for years that the free movement of people simply cannot and will not work. There is never going to be an even number of people migrating between countries when there are stark economic and social differences. In the UK we have been on the receiving end for a large amount of EU migration, and immigration from further afield. The end result is that our kids are suffering in overcrowded classrooms, with the quality of teaching being obstructed by the vast spread of languages that the teacher has to be able to manage.  I would not be so bold as to suggest this is an entirely direct correlation, but absolutely must be taken as more than coincidence.  This isn't about who and where from, this is about basic numbers and EU free movement of people simply not working. But it's not just Britain suffering.  Countries such as Poland need to retain and develop their future workforce if they are not going to become the wasteland of Europe. The end result will be everybody trying to cram themselves into a little island across the channel, without enough schools, housing and doctors to go around, while in the east, industries will struggle to find workers and whole conurbations will become like ghost towns.


"It is reported that the population of Poland will fall by around 10 million in the next 35 to 40 years, that's around a quarter of the population, while the UK population is continuing to rise at a level that is totally unsustainable. These stark findings regarding school closures in Poland and school overcrowding in the UK is the thin end of the wedge and a very clear indicator of what is to come unless we implement a sensible migration policy."



UKIP chain booklets now in stock



The 12-page A6 'chain booklet' has been a popular tool for branch activists across the country.  Over 3 million have been produced and brought many new people in to the Party.  Now, the content of the booklet has received a major update.  Tim Aker, the Head of the Policy Unit, has worked with UKIP General Secretary Jonathan Arnott to produce an upgraded, updated version.  These are now available from Head Office on 01626 831290.  The cost is £50 (1,000) / £90 (2,000) / £130 (3,000).


Some branches have used these as publicity material to all houses in target wards.  But the best use is for members of the public who've shown a little bit of extra interest in the Party.  They do explain why Britain would leave the European Union, but provide a powerful answer for members of the public who ask questions such as 'I know what UKIP stand for on the EU, but what else do you believe in?'  At a handy A6 size, members can easily keep a copy of this booklet with them so that they always have further information about UKIP available when asked questions by members of the public.



Young Independence Conference



Young Independence Chairman Rob Comley has sent the following message to Young Independence members about their forthcoming Conference: Although Young Independence is now the fastest growing political youth wing in the UK, with a potential rise in membership of around 200% in the last year, we want to make it even bigger!  That's why we are offering, for the next seven days only, a second ticket to YI conference and ball, taking place on September 19th in London, for 50% of the original price if it is used by a non-member. To take advantage of this promotion simply use the promotional code bringafriend when purchasing your tickets at www.youngindependence.eventbrite.com, with the full conference schedule also available via the link!


There will be a lot of opportunities at this exciting event to meet party officials, including Nigel himself, vote in a YI council election, as well as be first in line to sign up for a proposed brand new YI Young Professionals group set to be launched during YI conference itself, and spending the night getting to know YI members both old and new at our fantastic summer ball.  We also are still offering YI hostel places for only £36 for the whole weekend, for more information email yi.chairman@ukip.org.


This newsletter has already covered the 'big-name speakers' including Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall who will be addressing the YI Conference.  Therefore, it seems appropriate to mention some of the up-and-coming stars of the Party who will be speaking as well.  John Tennant will be offering all the latest news (and apparently gossip) from Brussels, whilst councillor Robin Hunter-Clarke will be speaking on his experiences as a young councillor and Michael Heaver of course on social media.  Current YI Chairman Rob Comley will of course be speaking.  Harry Aldridge, former YI Chairman, has been around the Party a long time and his experience will be invaluable.


Best wishes,

admin

My apologies that it's been a little longer than usual since the last forum newsletter, so today's is a little longer than usual.

There were a number of Council by-elections on Thursday, in somewhat tougher wards for the Party than have been up recently. The best result was in Barnsley, where UKIP's James Johnson took 23.2% of the vote. In a tough ward in Manchester (Ancoats and Clayton) UKIP took 9.4% - but perhaps surprisingly, this was a second place finish out of seven candidates in an ultra-safe Labour ward. The by-election in Selby South saw UKIP take 17.6% and third place, whilst in Salford UKIP finished on 18.5% - claiming second place to Labour. In South Staffordshire, UKIP took almost exactly 20% of the vote in the Brewood and Coven ward. Finally in England, the Parbold ward in West Lancashire was a 9.4% share – a result which would undoubtedly have been much higher but for it being marginal between the Conservatives and Labour, squeezing the UKIP vote. In most (but not all) of these wards, UKIP had not stood last time, so results represent a good start for the Party. There were two Council by-elections in Scotland, where UKIP took 2.4% (Glasgow Govan) and 1.6% (Scottish Borders, Tweeddale).


Dunfermline by-election


A Scottish Parliamentary by-election is currently taking place in Dunfermline. Leafleting and canvassing are going on every day from now until the 24th October (polling day) when we will be manning polling stations. All help is appreciated, no booking necessary just turn up at the UKIP office 31 Chapel Street Dunfermline KY12 7AW open 9 to 5 every day. For more information please call Daryll Pitcher on 07511 045 145.


Cut energy bills by 10%


UKIP Energy spokesman Roger Helmer MEP has attacked both Labour and the Conservatives for hypocrisy over energy prices. He said that here is a way to make energy more affordable without scapegoating the energy companies, but to do so would be to admit an historic mistake.
Helmer said, "It isn't that complicated, if we remove the green subsidies and charges we can cut bills by 10%. Ed Miliband brought in the Climate change bill which itself ramped up prices, which he admitted they would do at the time. But he would never suffer personally unlike the millions now in deliberately created fuel poverty. What is more he has just appointed SEE Energy's Director for National Development to his Ministerial team, former MEP Eluned Morgan."

"It ill behoves Labour and the Greg Barker the Energy Minister to attack fuel companies when they are responsible for this parlous situation. Stop blaming the companies take responsibility for your own legislative mistakes and row back from the mess you have created. They need to recognize the folly of environmental policies that only deliver increased costs, but fail to deliver anything significant in any fight against Climate Change".


MEP Selection – ballot results (England and Wales)


The results of the MEP selection process for England and Wales have been announced. The lists have remained unchanged by the NEC, which upheld the results of the members' ballot. Remember that your 1st preference was worth 10 votes, the 2nd worth 9, and so on. This explains why Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall were able to get more votes than there are Party members. The vote totals for Wales are much smaller for two reasons: firstly, the Welsh ballot was separate and so fewer people were eligible to vote. Secondly, in Wales a 1st preference was worth only 4 votes. The two should not be compared with each other. I reproduce the lists and vote totals below. One candidate in Yorkshire has no votes; this candidate was originally on the reserve list but now moves on to the candidates' list due to the withdrawal of another candidate. Results from Scotland are not yet announced as there is a potential for withdrawals from the list. There being only one candidate in Northern Ireland (and only one is needed under the different voting system, STV, used in Northern Ireland elections), Cllr. Henry Reilly becomes the candidate 'unopposed' in Northern Ireland.


Eastern Region


1 Patrick O'Flynn - 22610
2 Stuart Agnew - 21441
3 Tim Aker - 6841
4 Michael Heaver - 6054
5 Andrew Smith - 3475
6 Mick McGough - 2517
7 Andy Monk - 2374


East Midlands Region


1 Roger Helmer - 19590
2 Margot Parker - 9340
3 Jonathan Bullock - 3245
4 Nigel Wickens - 2242
5 Barry Mahoney - 2229


London Region


1 Gerard Batten - 26093
2 Paul Oakley - 8627
3 Elizabeth Jones - 4667
4 Lawrence Webb - 4275
5 Alastair McFarlane - 2869
6 Andrew McNeilis - 2736
7 Anthony Brown - 1750
8 Peter Whittle - 1278


North East Region


1 Jonathan Arnott – 9683
2 Richard Elvin – 4025
3 John Tennant – 2530


North West Region


1 Paul Nuttall - 53313
2 Louise Bours - 6981
3 Steven Woolfe - 6372
4 Shneur Odze - 5247
5 Michael McManus - 4909
6 Lee Slaughter - 2322
7 Simon Noble - 2099
8 Peter Harper - 1587


South East Region


1 Nigel Farage - 89909
2 Janice Atkinson - 23304
3 Diane James - 18131
4 Ray Finch - 13344
5 Donna Edmunds - 5475
6 Patricia Culligan - 5192
7 Nigel Jones - 4225
8 Alan Stevens - 2491
9 Simon Strutt - 2463
10 Barry Cooper – 1982


South West Region


1 William Dartmouth - 16796
2 Julia Reid - 11155
3 Gawain Towler - 6174
4 Tony McIntyre - 4391
5 Robert Smith - 4366
6 Keith Crawford – 2856


West Midlands Region


1 Jill Seymour - 10483
2 James Carver - 4763
3 Bill Etheridge - 4423
4 Phil Henrick - 3080
5 Michael Wrench - 2818
6 Michael Green - 1849
7 Lyndon Jones – 1717


Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire Region


1 Jane Collins - 10264
2 Amjad Bashir - 8349
3 Mike Hookem - 3136
4 Gary Shores - 2500
5 Jason Smith - 2058
6 Anne Murgatroyd


Wales


1 Nathan Gill - 1254
2 James Cole - 697
3 Caroline Jones - 668
4 David Rowlands – 639


Diane James on Question Time this week


I am informed that UKIP's Diane James will be on the BBC's Question Time programme from Basingstoke on Thursday (17th October) – don't forget to tune in!


Paul Nuttall MEP - article on Ralph Miliband


UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall MEP wrote the following article for the midweek Sport, which I reproduce below in full because of the particular interest in this story:

As a historian, I am familiar with the works of Ed Miliband's father, Ralph. Yes, he was a Marxist, and yes, he had some very odd left wing views. However, I don't think the fact that Ralph Miliband was a Communist is any reason to attack his son. After all, we can't choose our parents.

But I'm also bored by this mock outrage from the left wing press. They claim it's out of order to criticise the dead, but let's not forget that these SAME people rejoiced at the death of Margaret Thatcher. I feel uncomfortable with the attacks on Ralph Miliband, just as I did those on Margaret Thatcher when she passed away. However, the real story to come out of this sorry saga is that the BBC has again shown its true colours – and it's RED to the core.

Last week, the BBC became the mouthpiece of Ed Miliband (right) and the Labour Party. Labour figures such as Ed Miliband, Ken Livingstone, Tony Benn and Lord Glassman were pimped around BBC studios and given easy interviews on the subject. Over thirty articles related to the story appeared on the BBC website and it was given 49 minutes' coverage on the BBC's flagship current affairs programme on Radio 4, The Today Programme. For the BBC, it was as if the world had stopped because Ed Miliband's father had been attacked in a newspaper!

Peter Sissons, the former BBC newsreader, summed up why when he said "the overwhelming view of BBC news executives is broadly sympathetic to the Labour Party" – so it's no surprise really. Tory MPs are concerned and have written to the corporation to ask what's going on, but they shouldn't bother because the BBC has a long history of left wing bias.

Former UKIP leader Lord Pearson complained that the BBC's coverage on the EU was biased as far back as 2002. We now know BBC executives passed him off as being "quite mad" at the time. In 2005, the Wilson Report into BBC coverage concluded that it was "culturally biased" in favour of left wing causes. As a result, organisation promised to change. Sadly, it did not.

In July this year, the former Head of BBC News admitted that the organisation did not represent the public's views on immigration fairly because of a "deep liberal bias". In August this year, a study by the Centre for Policy Studies found that the BBC was more likely to promote left wing stories and be hostile to those from the right. On the issue of alleged "man-made global warming", the BBC has been the cheerleader-in-chief. It very rarely gives a platform to climate change sceptics and allows scaremongerers to go unchallenged. It's even worse when spoon-feeding global warming stories to our youngsters through shows like Blue Peter.

I don't mind the fact that newspapers and private media outlets have political bias. If you don't like the political leanings of a newspaper or a TV channel, don't pay for them. But it's different when the state broadcaster is politically biased, because we all have to pay the licence fee no matter what. I'm coming to the conclusion that the licence fee should be scrapped and then we can choose whether we want to pay to have the BBC's left wing propaganda shoved down our throats or not.


And finally...


Former Secretary of Young Independence Jack Duffin has announced his intention to stand for the presidency of the National Union of Students. Speaking about his campaign, Jack said "A serious achievement would be to get individuals in student politics and the three old parties speaking common sense when it comes to the education of millions of kids in this country. For too long it has just been acceptable for them to rattle off the rhetoric about trying hard but never delivering."

Best wishes,

Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

admin

Yesterday saw the count for the Party's elections to the National Executive Committee.  Given the increase in Party membership, there was some concern as to whether the count might spill over into a second day.  However, the team of volunteers worked extremely hard and a more efficient system for counting meant that we were able to get through the process much quicker.  As Returning Officer I'd like to thank everyone who volunteered to help with the election count and all the candidates for fighting the campaign in such a good spirit.  This year has seen very few complaints indeed, and no complaints at all about any of the elected candidates.  The count needed to be conducted efficiently, and Chris Cassidy in Head Office in particular was most helpful with the design of counting sheets and spreadsheets for compiling results.  The full results can be found below.



NEC election results



Seven candidates were elected to the NEC; four for a full 3-year term and three to fill the vacancies created by those who did not complete their terms.  The elected candidates are shown in bold:


Lucy Bostick - 4205

Andrew Moncreiff - 3394

Adrianne Smyth - 3387

Rob McWhirter - 3137

George Curtis - 3133

Tom Bursnall - 2846

Harry Aldridge - 2805

Robin Hunter-Clarke - 2801

Sebastian Fairweather - 2594

Russell Hicks - 2447

David Coburn - 2409

Andrew Reid - 2379

Jonathan Stanley - 1826

Colin Stewart - 1745

Richard Lee - 1716

Lee Waters - 1691

Colin Nicholson - 1688

Mick Greenhough - 1599

Charles Dodman - 1568

Andrew Fairfoull - 1534

Rhys Burriss - 1406

Gary Robinson - 1382

George Konstantinidis - 1323

Noel Matthews - 1016



UKIP to win Thanet South in 2015?



UKIP NEC member Alan Bown has funded a constituency opinion poll with Survation of voters in the Thanet South constituency.  The sitting Conservative MP has signalled her intention to step down, in a seat which has traditionally been rather close between Conservatives and Labour.  The results of the Survation poll were interesting: 35% Labour, 30% UKIP and 28% Conservatives.  This suggests that UKIP – rather than the Conservatives – might be the best chance of stopping a Labour win in Thanet South.  On the basis of these numbers, UKIP has a strong chance of winning the seat with a good campaign.


We frequently hear Conservatives complain of 'UKIP splitting the Conservative vote', as though somehow they have a right to expect UKIP voters to come across to them.  But 78% of UKIP voters said they wouldn't vote Conservative even if there were no UKIP candidate, indicating what we have known for a long time: UKIP take votes from right across the political spectrum, not just from the Conservatives.



Council Election results



Yesterday saw another mixed bag of Council by-election results for UKIP.  Whilst we didn't gain any seats, the best result of the night came in Wakefield (Horbury and South Ossett) where the UKIP vote shot up to 32.8%.  The result was Labour 1041, UKIP 856, Conservatives 504, Liberal Democrats 212.  Congratulations to Graham Jesty on a good result, even if he was not quite able to win the seat.  I believe there will be an election again in this seat on the same day as the European elections – one looking like a potential UKIP gain on that day!


In the Winkfield & Cranbourne ward on Bracknell Forest Council, we finished in second place to the Conservatives – with candidate Ken La Garde gaining 28.7% of the vote.  The result was Conservatives 582, UKIP 318, Labour 139, Liberal Democrats 69.  Other results on the night saw Steven Wildman take 17.9% in Central Bedfordshire, Elizabeth Jones 3.9% in Lambeth and Laurence Allen 24% in St. Helens.  The St. Helens ward was one of very few recently to be contested by the BNP (with the party taking just 4% of the vote).



And finally...



Despite the methodology working against UKIP, YouGov's latest daily tracker today shows us on 14% nationally for the next General Election.  Opinion polls make little sense unless you compare polls with others from the same company, using the same assumptions.  Over the last month, YouGov are showing UKIP clearly on the up.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

admin

It has been an incredible campaign in the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election.  UKIP has been attacked, quite viciously, by the Labour Party right from the start but still made progress during the campaign.  With the results having just been declared, congratulations must go to John Bickley –an excellent candidate.  This was always going to be a difficult constituency to win, in part because of a short campaign with lots of postal votes – leaving a very short period of time to contact people before they had voted.


Nevertheless, we ran a strong campaign.  Just a couple of years ago, a second-place finish at a Parliamentary by-election would have been unthinkable.  Today, it was expected by our activists and the media alike.  Anything less would have been seen in the media as a failure.  This shows just how far we have already come as a Party.


Once again, the Ashcroft poll understated UKIP – although not by as much as in Rotherham and Eastleigh.  Whilst Ashcroft had UKIP on 15%, we finished up higher than that on 18% when the votes were counted.  UKIP has gone from 5th place to 2nd place in this seat in a short period of time.  Whether this continuing understatement of UKIP is a result of Ashcroft's methodology or a late swing to UKIP is a debatable point.


Congratulations must go to all those who worked so hard for this result, and thanks to everyone who donated or gave up their time to campaign in this by-election.

Wythenshawe & Sale East result


Labour - 13268

UKIP (John Bickley) – 4301 (17.8%)

Conservatives – 3479

Liberal Democrats – 1176

Greens – 748

BNP – 708

Official Monster Raving Loony Party – 288
Janice Atkinson on Question Time


UKIP's Janice Atkinson was on Question Time tonight.  My apologies that I did not circulate this in advance; a different UKIP representative had originally been booked and cancelled; I did not realise until too late that Janice would be appearing.  At the time of writing the programme is not yet available on BBC iplayer, but by the time you read this it may be online here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03vlcxy.

EU putting wildlife before people


South West UKIP MEP William Dartmouth has condemned the EU's skewed priorities, exposing the damaging consequences of EU directives on flooding:


"On Monday this week European Commissioner Viviane Reding came to the UK to joyously declare that 70% of UK laws originate from the EU.  Ms Reding's visit took place at the same time as the consequences of heavy rainfall compounded by the effect of EU regulations, have brought about widespread flooding, suffering and the destruction of property.  The evidence is that EU directives put wildlife before people. It is starting to be clear that DEFRA and the Environment Agency have been zealous in implementing EU directives.


"The new direction was started in 2004 by the European Commission document on 'flood risk management'. This bore bitter fruit in the 2007 EU Directive on Flood Risks. This has been further compounded by the EU's Water Framework Directive, the Habitats Directive, the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive.  This have been followed the letter by the UK's Environment Agency, and the downside of this is that dredging has been greatly reduced because of the tight restrictions of silt removal and the protection of species such as the Depressed River Mussel.


"In this new EU-induced dispensation, ordinary people are left sandbagged in their own homes because of flooding are the ones who are depressed and not the mussels.  The front page of the Environment Agency's website says, 'Floods destroy, be prepared.'  It is clear the UK has not been prepared, and this is disgraceful."

Council results round-up


Last week saw three Council by-elections, where UKIP took 18% (Robert Sheridan, Arbourthorne ward on Sheffield City Council), 21.8% (Laurie Gray, St. Johns ward on Tendring District Council) and 21.5% (Sue Shearing, Peter Bruff ward on Tendring Council).  This week, there were two elections.  Kingstanding ward has declared (oddly, a Conservative gain in a Labour ward on Birmingham City Council) and UKIP took 7.9% of the vote.  At the time of writing, the other Council seat (in Richmondshire) to count tonight has still not been declared.


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)


admin

The big news this week is the ComRes opinion poll which has shown UKIP in first place in an opinion poll for this year's European elections.  The poll, which put UKIP on 30% ahead of Labour's 28%, Conservatives 21%, Liberal Democrats 8% and Greens 6% would – if repeated at the actual election - see UKIP take 24 seats.  The North West region would be particular beneficiaries, with UKIP set to jump from one seat to three.


At every previous European election, UKIP has gained popularity during the course of the campaign.  Could this happen again, even starting from a base as high as 30%?  Winning the European elections would be an incredible boost to the Party going in to next year's General Elections.  The Party, according to the new chair of UKIP's Councillors' Association, is also on track to gain 'hundreds' of Council seats on May 22nd.  These are exciting times for UKIP.

Report on March NEC meeting


Present: Nigel Farage MEP (NF) (from 3.20pm), Steve Crowther, Party Chairman (SC), Rob McWhirter (RM), Tom Bursnall (TB), Adrianne Smyth (AS), Mick McGough (MM), Harry Aldridge (HA), George Curtis (GC), Andrew Moncreiff (AM), Piers Wauchope (PW), Louise Bours (LB).  Also present: Neil Hamilton, Deputy Chairman (NH), Matthew Richardson, Party Secretary (MR), Pete Reeve, National Nominating Officer (PR), Jonathan Arnott, General Secretary (JA) (minutes), Stuart Wheeler (Party Treasurer) (from 3pm).


The meeting started at 1.10pm.  Apologies for absence were received from Paul Nuttall, Alan Bown and Steven Woolfe.  The minutes of the previous meeting were approved subject to minor amendments.


PR reported that we have had the Councillors Association meeting and they have elected officers as follows: Cllr. David Sprason (Chairman), Cllr. Hilton (Vice Chairman), Cllr. David Meacock (Secretary) and Cllr. Paul Bullen (Treasurer).


We have now re-registered the Party name and taken the gaps out of UK I P.  One description (Say NO to HS2) failed to one already registered and we are trying 'Scrap HS2'.  The others have gone through.


Spring Conference was a success, with more than 1,000 members attending on Friday and a full house again on Saturday for the public meeting, of which about one-third were non-members.  There was no catastrophic negative publicity.  The Sunday Mirror came in with undercover people and went away with a page of absolute drivel.


The regional campaigns are gathering momentum.  The official UKIP Scotland team held a successful launch on 23rd February with around 40 members, gaining coverage from the main Scottish papers.  The NEC confirmed the Scottish MEP candidate list consisting of David Coburn (1), Kevin Newton (2), Otto Inglis (3), Denise Baykal (4), Hugh Hatrick (5) and Malcolm Mackay (6).


The Party is taking over the lease of Lexdrum House until September.  We now have the full run of the offices and a considerable amount of extra space.  Lucy Bostick has resigned from the NEC; the meeting passed a resolution to allow the next Robin Hunter-Clarke to join the NEC as of the April meeting.


The NEC approved the formation of branches in Upper Bann and Bury, and the splitting of NE Cambridgeshire from NW Cambridgeshire, Clacton from Harwich and North Essex, Welwyn Hatfield from Hertsmere, Torbay from Totnes and Weston-Super-Mare from North Somerset.
 

The financial situation has improved, but it is not possible to accurately predict the level of donations that will come in during the campaign.  This means that the Party will have to estimate the appropriate amount to commit on the items which have to be signed off early (for example, billboards and leaflets).


The NEC discussed the mechanics of Britain's future withdrawal from the European Union, and passed a motion as follows: That UKIP would seek to leave the European Union through Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.  However, should the European Union not negotiate in good faith and no deal be reached, we would reserve the right to take the route of repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act.


SC submitted an amended version of the MEP Charter, detailing what will be expected of UKIP MEPs in the next Parliament.  In the Wythenshawe by-election we were fortunate to choose our candidate a week before other parties.  Some voters had still not even heard of us.  John Bickley was an excellent candidate.  He destroyed other candidates in debate.  Alan Bown will be covering activists' accommodation costs of almost £10,000.


Labour were nasty, and the BNP were abusive.  It was the most vicious campaign so far.  The minibus was egged, but we averaged 35 people a day despite atrocious weather.  The newspapers happily printed information they knew to be factually wrong, and we launched the Manchester Manifesto.  A number of senior people in the Party including GB came up.  We went up by 14.5% in a very short campaign.  Even the police weren't helping us on the night of the election; we had to walk through the protestors.  We used a professional call centre.
 

RM reported that we sent 22,700 emails out during Wythenshawe with 18% read rate and 3% click-through.  NH commented that all parties apart from UKIP went down during the campaign.  The Local and European elections manifestos were approved, and will become available to members in the coming weeks.


The Young Independence election results were as follows:

Edward Sumners approved as Grassroots Officer (79-9)

Joe Jenkins approved as Universities Officer (82-6)

Hannah Connell approved as Events Officer (85-5)

Dan Jukes approved as Elections Officer (86-3)

Finlay Young approved as International Officer (68-19)

Laura Howard approved as Secretary (85-3)

Richard Harrington approved as Treasurer (83-2)

Communications Officer

Ben Walker – 46

Oliver Corbishley - 37

Vice Chairman

Thomas Hoof - 47

Robin Hunter-Clarke 38

Chairman

Jack Duffin - 57

Christopher Wood - 29

The NEC ratified the results of the YI elections, and appointed Harry Aldridge as the NEC's liaison with Young Independence.


The meeting closed at 6.14pm.

Tickets for Nigel Farage public meetings


UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP will be doing a tour of the country in late April and early May, doing public meetings at a wide variety of venues.  This tour has already received substantial publicity, in particular for the meeting at Sage Gateshead which has generated real controversy as the Party's opponents have attacked us.  Having booked the 1,700-seater venue on April 23rd, UKIP came under fire from various far-left activists – prompting Billy Bragg of all people to defend our right to hold a meeting.


The tour begins on 22nd April in Sheffield, with dates through to Friday 2nd May in St. Ives.  Full details of most of the meetings can be found at http://ukip.ticketsource.co.uk/.  The meeting at Sage Gateshead is ticketed separately and has a dedicated website http://www.nigelatsagegateshead.org.

UKIP to win 'hundreds of Council seats' in May


In his first statement as the newly elected Leader of the UK Independence Party's Councillors Association (UKIPCA), the organisation responsible for supporting the Party's growing number of councillors across the country, Cllr David Sprason has suggested that UKIP is well placed to: "produce an earthquake in local government in May, when we fully expect to win hundreds of seats across the country."


Speaking after being elected as the new Chairman of UKIPCA, Cllr Sprason, the former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council and currently the leader of the UKIP group on the council said: "It is my aim to ensure that UKIP is not just relevant in combating the EU but also has a key role in fighting bureaucracy, waste, corruption and the overbearing egos of politicians in county and town halls across the country. UKIP's no whip policy means that our councillors are well placed to ensure that the voices of ordinary members of the community are heard and respected in a way that the traditional political parties have conspicuously failed to do, over many years. "


Cllr Sprason's comments follow an incredibly successful county council election in May 2013, when UKIP received a quarter of all of the votes cast across the country, winning 147 county council seats and achieving over 800 second places.


Cllr Peter Reeve, UKIP's local government spokesman, welcomed the election of Cllr Sprason: "I am very pleased that David has been elected to such a senior role in our Party. His re-election in May 2013, as a UKIP Councillor, renews his mandate with his local community and he can now bring the wealth of experience that he has of leading local government, to take UKIP on to even greater achievements in the future."

North East fundraising meal


A fundraising evening and buffet (£20/ticket) will be held at the Park Hotel, Tynemouth on 28th March from 7pm to 11.30pm. Speakers will include Party Director and former UKIP Mayor of Ramsey Lisa Duffy, Local government co-ordinator Cllr. Pete Reeve, Small Business Spokesman Amjad Bashir and UKIP General Secretary Jonathan Arnott. The evening will support the North East European elections campaign.  Tickets can be booked from the UKIP North East website at http://www.ukipne.org/.

UKIP Leicester event


On Sunday 6th April 2014, UKIP City of Leicester present MEP Candidates Amjad Bashir & Margot Parker, speaking on the issues of Immigration and Small Business and taking questions afterwards.  The event will be held at Mansah Restaurant, Dysart Way, Leicester LE1 2JY April 6th. Drinks are at 1600 hrs onward with a superb Indian buffet meal from 1700 hrs on. Speeches and Q&A 1815. Advance/early bird tickets are priced at £10 and include the meal. On the door, on the night, the tickets will be £15.  The Event Director is Ismail Patel who can be contacted by email at ismail.ukip@diplomats.com.

Study: can you help?


Chris Cassidy at Head Office has asked me to circulate a study which is being undertaken by a university student about members of political parties for part of a dissertation.  If you have 30 seconds to spare to answer, please fill in the UKIP survey: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=af80b0uj22yfvfu438259.  A survey for UKIP councillors is at http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=z5qlhrqdz3ljf16438208.

Death of a UKIP stalwart


UKIP Bedfordshire stalwart Brian Vissian has sadly passed away.  Responding to the news Eastern Counties Chairman George Konstantinidis said: "I am afraid there is bad news regarding Brian, and even though I was prepared and not surprised, the sad news came to me as a shock. Today, I have been notified that Brian Vissian passed away at the age of 77.  Brian, for all those who knew him, was a true Patriot of rare kind. He was a UKIPer in every sense.


He got up every morning with UKIP and went to bed every night with UKIP in his mind. With his little money he used to buy UKIP accessories and often designed stickers, mugs, car magnets etc and always paid a donation to the branch. At any opportunity, he would write a poem and I will never forget the times he called me with excitement to read me his latest poem.  Brian has served his branch as a committee member for the last 3 years and resigned recently due to his poor health. He never refused help and he drove for hours to attend most by-elections. Nothing was too much for Brian and whatever his financial circumstances, he never hesitated to volunteer any day, any time with any weather.


At the last Party conference, he received an award for his extraordinary services to the Party which was presented to him on his birthday by Lisa Duffy and that was the highlight of his UKIP life.  Regardless of his poor health, he continued to drive around towns with his UKIP and British flags and he made sure that UKIP was noticed at every branch meeting. He was last seen just a few weeks ago on Saturday 8th March driving around Ampthill town during the branch's Action Day.


The loss of Brian will be irreplaceable for us in Bedfordshire.  Brian was someone who dedicated his life to fighting the EU. He felt betrayed by the current government and he believed that UKIP would force a referendum, so we could get our Country back.  Brian will be sadly missed but his example will continue to inspire many of us. On 25th May, the day of the European election results please remember to drink to Brian. He would have loved to be there with us at the biggest victory in the history of the Party.  The branch will pay a tribute to Brian at the next meeting on Saturday 22nd March. He will never be erased from our memory."


Best wishes,



Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

admin

PRESS RELEASE
(Issued by: Dave Pascoe, Press Officer, NE Region, UKIP)

U.K.I. P. HARTLEPOOL ANNOUNCE ADOPTION OF PROSPECTIVE PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE FOR 2015 GENERAL ELECTION

On Tuesday 15th April there was a 'hustings' event held at The Hourglass, PH in Hartlepool at which Phillip Broughton was officially adopted to be the UKIP PPC at the General Election of 2015.
In full compliance with the rules and regulations of both the Electoral Commission, and UKIP's procedures, Phillip duly received the votes of a minimum of two thirds of members present to duly endorse his candidacy.

CONTACT  / PERSONAL DETAILS FOR PHILLIP BROUGHTON

NAME: PHILLIP BROUGHTON
AGE: 30
ADDRESS:
85, LONGLEAT WALK,
INGLEBY BARWICK,
STOCKTON-ON-TEES,
CLEVELAND,
TS17 5DZ
TELEPHONE: 07733 153293
E-Mail: phillipthegiantkiller@hotmail.com

PHILLIP BROUGHTON CV

•   WORK: TESCO CHECKOUT/CUSTOMER TEAM LEADER AND ALSO CO-RUNS A WRESTLING PROMOTION ENTERPRISE
•   POLITICAL EXPEERIENCE: HAS PARTICIPATED AS A CONSERVATIVECANDIDATE IN 3 LOCAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS IN STOCKTON – 2005, 2007 AND 2011
•   POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENT:  STOCKTON BOROUGH COUNCILLOR (CONSERVATIVE)  2007- 2011, WORKED ON PLANNING AND CYP COMMITTEES'

In Phillip's presentation at the hustings he listed the following areas as his national political priorities which he will strongly promote during the campaign.....

•   Increase in Defence spending
•   Cut Foreign Aid
•   End uncontrolled immigration as currently exists due to our membership of the EU
•   Bring about tougher policies on Law and Order
•   A referendum on our EU membership to be held immediately
•   Smaller government bringing about real reductions in government debt
•   Lower taxes to help small and medium sized businesses
•   Strongly oppose 'green' taxes, useless and costly wind turbines, and promote the greater use of nuclear energy
•   Tackle the welfare culture and stress that we need policies that always guarantees that it pays to work

Phillip has declared that he will adopt the following campaign strategy..................

•   Establish regular UKIP newsletters, covering local and national issues, for circulation in the constituency
•   Establish a dedicated website / blog
•   Establish a dedicated 'Facebook' page
•   Establish 'YouTube stream to allow video contact with the electorate
•   Extensive Public meetings during the campaign
•   High Profile contact with the electorate which  guarantees – extensive canvassing, use of highly prominent street stalls to promote our message, and, the use of 'action days' in every part of the constituency

In May 2015 Hartlepool has a real opportunity to make a real difference to the decades of stagnant, wasteful and just plain unrepresentative government that Hartlepool has endured for far too long.  By electing a UKIP MP, the people of Hartlepool have the opportunity of saying 'NO' to the tired old political establishment that has heaped so much misery, treachery and low esteem upon our town and the country in general.
May 2015 could be a real 'turning point' in North East politics – MAKE IT HAPPEN.

THE FUTURE IS COMMON SENSE – THE FUTURE IS UKIP.

For any further information on this PR and for ongoing campaign information and updates please contact:

Dave Pascoe,
Press Officer,
NE Region UKIP

Address:
64, Dunbar Road,
Hartlepool,
TS25 5DX
TEL: 01429 223754
E-Mail: d.j.pascoe@virginmedia.com