UKIP must decide whether it’s a party or a pressure group. Right now, it’s neither

27th April, 2010 by Webmaster

Winning twelve seats in the European Parliament in 2009, coming second only to the Conservatives in England, was a
breakthrough for the party. Naturally, after that boost, UKIP wants to be taken
seriously as an electoral force, and a viable alternative to the main parties on all issues, not just through the anti-European Union stance for which
the party is best known.

Winning twelve seats in the European Parliament in 2009, coming second only to the Conservatives in England, was a breakthrough for the party. Naturally, after that boost, UKIP wants to be taken seriously as an electoral force, and a viable alternative to the main parties on all issues, not just through the anti-European Union stance for which the party is best known.

That aspiration is reasonable enough. Many parties have started out as pressure groups, standing in elections to make a point, to bring a particular issue into the political spotlight. The Green movement in Europe, the Northern League in Italy and the Bloc Québécois in Canada have all successfully morphed from single issue campaign groups into parties with a comprehensive manifesto and a desire not just to influence government, but to be part of it. UKIP has clearly decided these are the examples it must follow.

But it’s not quite that easy. Once UKIP has made that choice, and resolved to become a party campaigning on all issues, it has to see it through; UKIP must start taking itself seriously on that basis before anyone else will. The paperwork is there; the party’s manifesto contains pledges on seventeen different policy areas, from the NHS to pensions to transport. And whatever you think of the policies themselves (you can read a summary of the manifesto here), most of the bases are covered.

Politicians and activists within UKIP just aren’t communicating this new message effectively. In this election season, the party is coming across as a ranting, raving, aggressive group, still obsessed with a single issue. We’ve already seen Nigel Farage’s bizarre tirade against the European Council President, Herman van Rompuy, in February. However outraged he is that an unelected politician is so influential in Europe, Farage’s outburst seemed unprofessional and hysterical, and goes against the politeness which UKIP identifies as being “part of Britishness” in its own publications.

Now, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who replaced Farage as leader of UKIP in December, has given this embarrassing interview on the BBC’s Campaign Show. Lord Pearson was completely unwilling to discuss much of his own party’s manifesto, such as their policy on crime, because he wanted to focus only on Europe, where UKIP is on safer ground. When he was pressed on the manifesto, Lord Pearson implied that he hadn’t actually developed much of the policy himself, and though he did claim to have read the manifesto in full, his unwillingness to defend it made for a less convincing performance than we expect from party leaders.

UKIP must stop playing games with the electorate. It is the party’s right to choose whether to be a protest group or an alternative government. But if they pretend to be something they’re not, UKIP politicians can expect voters to leave them out in the cold on the 6th of May.

(picture courtesy of Euro Realist Newsletter @ Flickr)

Tags: UKIP