The UKIP Insurgency

[Kevin_Kennedy]

It is time to take the anti-EU fringe party seriously, not least for its impact on the Tories

ANGRY insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. And if electoral rules do not snare a would-be demagogue then mocking laughter probably will. It is a brave politician who stands before British voters, face red and voice shaking with fury. There is always the risk that at some climactic moment a heckler will interrupt, posing a variant on the ancient British question: just who do you think you are?

How, then, to explain the rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an insurgent (and at times quite angry) outfit devoted to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union? Once a near-irrelevance, UKIP haunts the thoughts of politicians across Westminster. The explanation lies in Mr Farage’s talent for turning both Britain’s voting system and its traditions of pomposity-pricking mockery to his advantage.

UKIP does not need to win a single House of Commons seat at the next general election to have an outsized impact. The party just needs to threaten, credibly, to siphon off enough Conservative votes to deny David Cameron’s party victory in a decisive number of seats: a disastrous fate in a first-past-the-post system. In happier times such a menace might unite Conservatives against UKIP. These are not happy times.

Bagehot: The UKIP insurgency | The Economist

If UKIP can finally get the Tories to embrace Euroscepticism and a referendum then that would be a great victory for them. It also goes to show that the "lesser-of-two-evils" argument is nonsense on its face, and that rewarding a party with your vote just because they might be better than the alternative simply reinforces their negatives. That's a lesson we could stand to learn here in the U.S.

 

[idb]

It is time to take the anti-EU fringe party seriously, not least for its impact on the Tories

ANGRY insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. And if electoral rules do not snare a would-be demagogue then mocking laughter probably will. It is a brave politician who stands before British voters, face red and voice shaking with fury. There is always the risk that at some climactic moment a heckler will interrupt, posing a variant on the ancient British question: just who do you think you are?

How, then, to explain the rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an insurgent (and at times quite angry) outfit devoted to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union? Once a near-irrelevance, UKIP haunts the thoughts of politicians across Westminster. The explanation lies in Mr Farage’s talent for turning both Britain’s voting system and its traditions of pomposity-pricking mockery to his advantage.

UKIP does not need to win a single House of Commons seat at the next general election to have an outsized impact. The party just needs to threaten, credibly, to siphon off enough Conservative votes to deny David Cameron’s party victory in a decisive number of seats: a disastrous fate in a first-past-the-post system. In happier times such a menace might unite Conservatives against UKIP. These are not happy times.

Bagehot: The UKIP insurgency | The Economist

If UKIP can finally get the Tories to embrace Euroscepticism and a referendum then that would be a great victory for them. It also goes to show that the "lesser-of-two-evils" argument is nonsense on its face, and that rewarding a party with your vote just because they might be better than the alternative simply reinforces their negatives. That's a lesson we could stand to learn here in the U.S.

The UK isn't the only country in Europe that's seeing a rise in the popularity of nationalist groups of course.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

It is time to take the anti-EU fringe party seriously, not least for its impact on the Tories

ANGRY insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. And if electoral rules do not snare a would-be demagogue then mocking laughter probably will. It is a brave politician who stands before British voters, face red and voice shaking with fury. There is always the risk that at some climactic moment a heckler will interrupt, posing a variant on the ancient British question: just who do you think you are?

How, then, to explain the rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an insurgent (and at times quite angry) outfit devoted to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union? Once a near-irrelevance, UKIP haunts the thoughts of politicians across Westminster. The explanation lies in Mr Farage’s talent for turning both Britain’s voting system and its traditions of pomposity-pricking mockery to his advantage.

UKIP does not need to win a single House of Commons seat at the next general election to have an outsized impact. The party just needs to threaten, credibly, to siphon off enough Conservative votes to deny David Cameron’s party victory in a decisive number of seats: a disastrous fate in a first-past-the-post system. In happier times such a menace might unite Conservatives against UKIP. These are not happy times.

Bagehot: The UKIP insurgency | The Economist

If UKIP can finally get the Tories to embrace Euroscepticism and a referendum then that would be a great victory for them. It also goes to show that the "lesser-of-two-evils" argument is nonsense on its face, and that rewarding a party with your vote just because they might be better than the alternative simply reinforces their negatives. That's a lesson we could stand to learn here in the U.S.

The UK isn't the only country in Europe that's seeing a rise in the popularity of nationalist groups of course.

True, but the great thing about UKIP is that they can't really be dismissed as simply being "racist."

 

[California Girl]

It is time to take the anti-EU fringe party seriously, not least for its impact on the Tories

ANGRY insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. And if electoral rules do not snare a would-be demagogue then mocking laughter probably will. It is a brave politician who stands before British voters, face red and voice shaking with fury. There is always the risk that at some climactic moment a heckler will interrupt, posing a variant on the ancient British question: just who do you think you are?

How, then, to explain the rise of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an insurgent (and at times quite angry) outfit devoted to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union? Once a near-irrelevance, UKIP haunts the thoughts of politicians across Westminster. The explanation lies in Mr Farage’s talent for turning both Britain’s voting system and its traditions of pomposity-pricking mockery to his advantage.

UKIP does not need to win a single House of Commons seat at the next general election to have an outsized impact. The party just needs to threaten, credibly, to siphon off enough Conservative votes to deny David Cameron’s party victory in a decisive number of seats: a disastrous fate in a first-past-the-post system. In happier times such a menace might unite Conservatives against UKIP. These are not happy times.

Bagehot: The UKIP insurgency | The Economist

If UKIP can finally get the Tories to embrace Euroscepticism and a referendum then that would be a great victory for them. It also goes to show that the "lesser-of-two-evils" argument is nonsense on its face, and that rewarding a party with your vote just because they might be better than the alternative simply reinforces their negatives. That's a lesson we could stand to learn here in the U.S.

The UK isn't the only country in Europe that's seeing a rise in the popularity of nationalist groups of course.

UKIP are hardly a 'nationalist' party.... they are a patriotic party - they want Britain to be independent from Europe. To a large extent, I agree with them.

 

[idb]

Bagehot: The UKIP insurgency | The Economist

If UKIP can finally get the Tories to embrace Euroscepticism and a referendum then that would be a great victory for them. It also goes to show that the "lesser-of-two-evils" argument is nonsense on its face, and that rewarding a party with your vote just because they might be better than the alternative simply reinforces their negatives. That's a lesson we could stand to learn here in the U.S.

The UK isn't the only country in Europe that's seeing a rise in the popularity of nationalist groups of course.

UKIP are hardly a 'nationalist' party.... they are a patriotic party - they want Britain to be independent from Europe. To a large extent, I agree with them.

I confess pretty much total ignorance on the UKIP.
They seem to make a lot of people nervous though.

 

[Bill Scott]

The answer is that UKIP represents a mjority of British people but they have little chance with the current voting sytem . The choice is to pick from 3 parties none of whom have the guts to give the people a vote on the EU.

In the 1970's the Brits voted to enter a Common Market not a federal state.

We now have an EU President, Van Humpy Pumpy or something, who voted for him ?

More seriously is the imposing of leaders on sovereign states by the EU
and even more frightening is the assumption by the EU of the power to overule British courts.

Were you aware that the EU accounts have not been signed for over 10 years, it stinks.

The rise of nationalism is a concern but this should not be classed as racist , it is simply patriotic.

Bill

 

[California Girl]

The answer is that UKIP represents a mjority of British people but they have little chance with the current voting sytem . The choice is to pick from 3 parties none of whom have the guts to give the people a vote on the EU.

In the 1970's the Brits voted to enter a Common Market not a federal state.

We now have an EU President, Van Humpy Pumpy or something, who voted for him ?

More seriously is the imposing of leaders on sovereign states by the EU
and even more frightening is the assumption by the EU of the power to overule British courts.

Were you aware that the EU accounts have not been signed for over 10 years, it stinks.

The rise of nationalism is a concern but this should not be classed as racist , it is simply patriotic.

Bill

The Conservatives are worried about UKIP... who are conservative but anti-Europe... and tend to take votes away from the mainstream conservatives every time they put up a candidate. They are much like our Libertarians. Their leader - Farage - is a twit.... unfortunately.

 

[Swagger]

I'm a card-carrying member of UKIP. And I've got a UKIP sticker stuck on the inside of our car's rear windscreen, too. They're not the single issue pressure group the British media make them out to be and nine out of a group of the Tories' most prolific donors switched over to UKIP after they, like me, got sick and tired of Cameron's empty promises of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. They and I want the UK to severe all links with Brussels and invite responsible European states into a less controlling and [less] centralised alliance. Not a reincarnation of the cancerous EU, aka the 'Fourth Reich'.

Check-out their manifesto. Basically we're patriotic conservatives who object to selling Britain down the river.

 

[Swagger]

The answer is that UKIP represents a mjority of British people but they have little chance with the current voting sytem . The choice is to pick from 3 parties none of whom have the guts to give the people a vote on the EU.

In the 1970's the Brits voted to enter a Common Market not a federal state.

We now have an EU President, Van Humpy Pumpy or something, who voted for him ?

More seriously is the imposing of leaders on sovereign states by the EU
and even more frightening is the assumption by the EU of the power to overule British courts.

Were you aware that the EU accounts have not been signed for over 10 years, it stinks.

The rise of nationalism is a concern but this should not be classed as racist , it is simply patriotic.

Bill

Nobody in any EU constituency voted for him. He was assigned the position by the Eurocrats in Brussels.

 

[California Girl]

I'm a card-carrying member of UKIP. And I've got a UKIP sticker stuck on the inside of our car's rear windscreen, too. They're not the single issue pressure group the British media make them out to be and nine out of a group of the Tories' most prolific donors switched over to UKIP after they, like me, got sick and tired of Cameron's empty promises of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. They and I want the UK to severe all links with Brussels and invite responsible European states into a less controlling and [less] centralised alliance. Not a reincarnation of the cancerous EU, aka the 'Fourth Reich'.

Check-out their manifesto. Basically we're patriotic conservatives who object to selling Britain down the river.

If I were Brit, I'd probably vote UKIP.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I'm a card-carrying member of UKIP. And I've got a UKIP sticker stuck on the inside of our car's rear windscreen, too. They're not the single issue pressure group the British media make them out to be and nine out of a group of the Tories' most prolific donors switched over to UKIP after they, like me, got sick and tired of Cameron's empty promises of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. They and I want the UK to severe all links with Brussels and invite responsible European states into a less controlling and [less] centralised alliance. Not a reincarnation of the cancerous EU, aka the 'Fourth Reich'.

Check-out their manifesto. Basically we're patriotic conservatives who object to selling Britain down the river.

I don't agree with everything in their manifesto, but I agree with California Girl that if I were British they'd probably have my vote.

 

[Swagger]

I'm a card-carrying member of UKIP. And I've got a UKIP sticker stuck on the inside of our car's rear windscreen, too. They're not the single issue pressure group the British media make them out to be and nine out of a group of the Tories' most prolific donors switched over to UKIP after they, like me, got sick and tired of Cameron's empty promises of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. They and I want the UK to severe all links with Brussels and invite responsible European states into a less controlling and [less] centralised alliance. Not a reincarnation of the cancerous EU, aka the 'Fourth Reich'.

Check-out their manifesto. Basically we're patriotic conservatives who object to selling Britain down the river.

I don't agree with everything in their manifesto, but I agree with California Girl that if I were British they'd probably have my vote.

What don't you agree with? I can't find any fault in their manifest. It's the blueprint of common sense.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I'm a card-carrying member of UKIP. And I've got a UKIP sticker stuck on the inside of our car's rear windscreen, too. They're not the single issue pressure group the British media make them out to be and nine out of a group of the Tories' most prolific donors switched over to UKIP after they, like me, got sick and tired of Cameron's empty promises of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. They and I want the UK to severe all links with Brussels and invite responsible European states into a less controlling and [less] centralised alliance. Not a reincarnation of the cancerous EU, aka the 'Fourth Reich'.

Check-out their manifesto. Basically we're patriotic conservatives who object to selling Britain down the river.

I don't agree with everything in their manifesto, but I agree with California Girl that if I were British they'd probably have my vote.

What don't you agree with? I can't find any fault in their manifest. It's the blueprint of common sense.

Basically small things like increasing defense spending and maintaining membership in organizations like NATO, WTO, and the UN.