Friday 14 January 2011

Well done Paul

The UKIP candidate managed to get 5.8% of the vote in Old & Sad, which isn't bad going.

5 comments:

WitteringsfromWitney said...

Yes, well done Paul, however the result is tinged with a hint of disappointment here,even on a low turnout.

Not seen any leaflets, but if past experience is anything to go by, I question the message and composition of content, which I believe is worthy of revision.

H said...

BNP and UKIP combined got almost as many as the Tory.

Anonymous said...

Certainly was a very good result for UKIP (which the press typically ignored).

H, I'm not sure why you would lump BNP and UKIP together though - the BNP are extreme Left and their policies are poles apart.

Mark Wadsworth said...

WFW, he got his deposit back, that is our next biggest hurdle. I would have been delighted if I'd got my £500 deposit back at the last GE.

H, that is mathematically correct.

AC, "Poles apart" tee hee.

H said...

Attempting to sidestep the (rather futile, in my opinion) distinction between 'left' and 'right', I would lump BNP and UKIP together in this instance because they appeal those disaffected with the way successive governments have (mis)managed Britain's relationship with the rest of the world and with high levels of immigration. They fish in a similar pool. This is not to confuse them in other ways and I would readily concede that their domestic policies are very different, but (I suggest), this is largely irrelevant in the context of an election such as this. So, for instance, 'left' as the BNP may be, its voters are not likely to switch their support to other parties which identify themselves as Marxist or Troskyite, although they might return to the Labour Party, assuming it changed in some admittedly rather unlikely ways.

It's worth more generally highlighting the levels of support for third, fourth etc. parties, since it is this level of support that is making the FPTP electoral system such a lottery at the moment.