Ukip succeed at local elections despite negative media attention
Anna Sonny, 23 May 2014
Ukip has done well in the local elections, gaining scores of seats (so far – many counts are still going) from both the Tories and Labour. Headlines today are reporting ‘the first tremors’ of Farage’s promised political earthquake and predict that Ukip will secure a seat in Westminster at next year’s general elections.
Their performance could be seen as somewhat of a surprise, owing to the recent negative media attention surrounding the party. Party leader Nigel Farage has been battling accusations of racism after saying that he would feel ‘uncomfortable’ if Romanians moved in next door, and Sanya-Jeet Thandi, who he previously described as the ‘rising star’ of Ukip, left, claiming that they were deliberately attracting the racist vote.
This is also on the back of arguably homophobic, misogynist and racist comments made in the last few months from Ukip activists. These were dismissed by Farage as individuals who had merely slipped through the (seemingly very wide) net.
What has been surprising about Ukip’s performance in yesterday’s elections is the reaction of some of the mainstream politicians, who seem to be acknowledging that Ukip really are onto something; a few years ago, Ukip’s burgeoning success was put down to the economic climate, hardening public apathy about the EU, and the combination of these factors making the perfect breeding ground for populism.
The party that David Cameron in 2006 denounced as the party of ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists’ has often been criticised as riding on Farage’s charisma. But Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone said today that the election results show her party has lost its ‘humanity’ in office.
‘Ukip have managed to sound like human beings – that’s Nigel Farage’s big win…All of us have become so guarded, we are so on-message that we seem to have lost some of our humanity.’
And Labour MP John Healey got this wake-up call from a lifelong Labour voter: ‘John, I’m voting for Ukip today. You all need a kicking.’
It seems that Farage’s claims to lead the anti-establishment (despite having the typical background and appearance of the establishment) has won him votes – he refuses to be restricted by political correctness and portrays himself as a ‘man of the people’ who isn’t afraid to say the truth. This seems to appeal to the public.
Farage’s comments about Romanians living next door were branded as racist by prominent Labour MPs, including Yvette Cooper, Diane Abbott and David Lammy. But his comments do seem to tap into genuine concern about levels of immigration in Britain – when these are denounced as racist, voters will feel as though Ukip are the only party representing them and so they will succeed in spite of negative media attention. As we’ve seen from these elections, what the media says and what the votes say can be very different.