If you said to anyone in the political bubble 5 years ago that UKIP would become a dominant party and receive nearly 4 million votes at the next election, they would have laughed in your face. Rightly so, UKIP had performed badly at the 2010 election, receiving less than a million votes and no seats, contained a small membership seen as ''fruitcakes'' by one David Cameron, and their main talking point, The European Union, wasn't the main talking point in any party. Many only saw it as a fringe protest movement and presumed it would dissolve, Little did they know, UKIP were about to rock the political landscape.
Their main presence was first felt in the 2013 local elections, where they polled 23% on average, and gained 143 local councilors, This dominance continued in the 2014 local elections, gaining 128 seats and then winning the 2014 European Parliament elections by gaining 11 new MEPs. That had been the first time in over 100 years where neither the Tories nor Labour won the most votes or seats. The relevance of UKIP to people who felt the main parties weren't representing them and UKIP did was clear. Though only winning one parliamentary seat at the 2015 election, UKIP has caused a tidal wave of political debate and were still relevant. They'd forced the Conservatives to offer a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, split the vote in numerous marginal Conservative-Labour seats stopping one party from gaining or holding the seat, and had shown that they could appeal to people. Nigel Farage, whether you agreed with him or not, had a certain demeanor that appealed to many: talking like a normal person, addressing issues that many people felt were not discussed or understood by mainstream parties, working in a different sector before coming a politician. His passion for leaving the European Union was felt by many, and so the long, hard fight to try and win, having failed in 1975 began. After a brutal referendum campaign, with fear mongering on both sides, Nigel Farage presumed 'Leave' had lost as soon as the polls closed. What a surprise, when UKIP realized the combination of working class old Labour voters, anti-EU Conservatives and those simply fed up with the current system, had won them the debate. Following the referendum, Mr Farage was part of the mass resignations (David Cameron as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson as Prime Ministerial candidate, Andrea Leadsom as Prime Ministerial candidate) by resigning as leader of UKIP and not wanting to help sort out the exit. Personally, I don't think he ever thought Leave would win. The new leader of UKIP, Diane James MEP, was elected yesterday and I wish her well. Though I disagree with lots of what UKIP say and believe they don't have the answers to people's genuine concerns regarding immigration, they have bought ideas to the table and have the right in a free society to be heard. Where they go in the future, I don't know. Their purpose, leaving the EU, will soon be achieved by Theresa May's government, perhaps by the next election. From then on, they have no real need. I heard of mass numbers moving back to the Conservative party because of Mr Farage's resignation. Who knows what proportion of people voted UKIP just because of Nigel Farage? Whatever their future, they have caused an, utterly disastrous some may say, earthquake in the political system. The job of the main parties is to understand the reasons and concerns people who vote for UKIP have and address them. Easier said than done, I know.
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