Ukip’s growth in popularity was made once again evident by the party’s win in the Rochester and Strood, Kent, by-elections on November 20. The elections had to be called after local Conservative MP, Mark Reckless, announced his defection to Ukip from the Tories the day before the beginning of the Conservatives’ conference (last September 27).
Reckless has now won Ukip its second seat in Parliament. While it may seem not very significant, after all Rochester counts only 27 000 inhabitants, the event has raised an impressive public debate.
It was a clear defeat for the Conservatives, who lost one seat after an unusually expensive campaign. These by-elections were almost a symbolic battle against Ukip. It is becoming more and more obvious that the Conservatives’ policy towards immigration and the European Union is failing to satisfy those who voted for the Tories in the past.
But the Conservatives are not the only ones losing votes to Ukip. The Labour Party was defeated in these Thornberry elections too. The defeat was marked by the incident of the tweet of Emily Thornberry. The MP from London tweeted a picture of a typically working class house covered with St George’s flags and a white van in front of it. The outrage that broke out, the reasons why are explained here, forced Thornberry to resign and it reinforced the perception of the Labour Party as a snobbish party of the metropolitan elite, which was once unthinkable.
Many blame the growing in popularity of Ukip on the Labour Party, rather than on the Conservatives. Labour is failing to propose itself as an agent of change in which people can channel their anger built during the years of the Conservative government. As Nicola Sturgeon said at the Scottish National Party (SNP) conference last week, the Labour party has “lost its soul”. In England, Labour is losing support to Ukip on one side and on the Greens, who advanced 1,000 votes on 2010, on the other.
In order to stop the rise of Ukip, the Euro-sceptic party needs to be attacked on other grounds than the ones that have been predominant so far (immigration, the European Union), for instance Nigel Farange’s vague and under-researched plans for the economy and welfare. Ukip is being very clever in pushing the line as far as possible and then retreat when it is more convenient. During the campaign Reckless even stated that Ukip would repatriate established EU resident after leaving the EU. The claim was quickly retracted by the party.
Votes are fleeing from the main parties who are getting together the lowest percentage of votes in the history of British politics. The historical two-party system is approaching its end, leaving place to a multiparty one. The problem that is likely to present itself in the future is that the current British voting system is tailored to best serve a two-party system. While the British voted against changing the system in the 2011 referendum, many will probably change their mind. In fact, because of the way things are now, the next elections will bring a Conservative-led or Labour-led government, which will not really represent the more varied political support of the country.
Ukip’s growth in popularity was made once again evident by the party’s win in the Rochester and Strood, Kent, by-elections on November 20. The elections had to be called after local Conservative MP, Mark Reckless, announced his defection to Ukip from the Tories the day before the beginning of the Conservatives’ conference (last September 27).
