Let us start with the basics. How many candidates is UKIP standing this Thursday in the County Council elections? Yesterday's Guardian says 1217, Farage sycophants claim 1700+ whilst I seem to recollect the great man himself claiming 1850. It remind me of the great scene in the film Mamchurian Candidate, original version where Johnny Iselin a mouthpiece US senator running for the VP ticket under the control of his Lady MacBeth wife Eleanor, has difficulty in remembering his various numerical claims for the 'number of card carrying Communists' in the US Defence Dept. He pleads with his wife over breakfast just to give him one simple number he can remember. She glances at the tomato sauce bottle on the table and says OK Johnny there are exactly 57 card carrying commies in the US Defence Dept!
UKIP has to have by electoral law a nominating officer who countersigns all a parties candidates nomination forms. This is I believe Mr Reeve who is I believe Ms Duffy's parntner but I am happy to be corrected on this point. Probably the signing has been devolved to a local level but still the parties nominating officer should know how many candidates a party is putting up. So how many is it Mr UKIP nominating officer?
This is a recurring problem for Farage. Giving glib answers is one thing, remembering them is quite another. I once saw a Farage type politician destroyed by a very bright businessman thus. The politician gave a long bullshit self contradictory answer to the businessman's question. After he had finished the businessman asked him to repeat his answer. Mr charisma politician could not and drowned in a sea of his own waffle.
On QT last Thursday Simon Hughes the Lib Dem deputy leader caught our Nigel on the hop about what exactly UKIP's personal tax policy was. Farage's answer was not only unconvincing but gave some dangerous hostages to fortune. Now we have Bloom, that avid supporter of women's equality, reported in yesterday's Guardian and today's Observer letting the cat out of the bag on EUKIP's almost complete lack of policies and even suggesting buying in thought out policies fro right wing think tanks. Farage's EUKIP does not do thinking only drinking!
Ken Clarke was attacking UKIP on this morning's Sky TV. This is not a bad thing after all all publicity is good publicity for UKIP at least for the time being but UKIP has to show it can come up with some serious answers. Farage sound bites won't do now. That's a big problem for EUKIP that have existed exclusively on Farage's dodgy factually unsupported glib answers to bored and uninformed journos.
Candidate selection is also a mess. Former members of the extreme right BNP, NF, EDL etc are now all UKIP candidates on 2nd May. As Bloom says
"We are also attracting new members who bring main party 'baggage'. Focus groups, quotas, even political correctness."
I made this point four years ago about Bannerman's rehashed Tory promises as UKIP policies. Alan Sked was right. UKIP has to be unique in its policies and not a repository for right wing fruit cakes and loonies with hobby horses to gallop like holocaust denial.
Am I upset about this? You bet I am. I have never been a member of any other political party. I have always supported UKIP policies such as they were. I broke EUKIP's unwritten rule, thou shalt not criticise Nigel Farage. I have never been given an explanation of any sort why this debars me from UKIP.
I have just watched Nuttall come off third best to Andrew Neil and Caroline Lucas on dodgy UKIP candidates and policy vacuum. Oh dear!
The Tories are now picking up on the fact that Farage is in it for his own financial gain. Click to read
I leave you with their headline:
5 comments:
"You're only in it for yourself, Nigel". And you? Whose payroll are you on?
and who are you?
and unlike Nigel I am not on the EU payroll
The confusion over how many candidates are standing does link directky to the position of Party Nominating Officer, one of the roles that must have a named individual on record at the Electoral Commission (The other three are Party Leader, Party Treasurer and Party Secretary. All other "party officer" posts are irrelevant to ELCOM and a party can have as many or as few as it likes provided these statutory roles are filled). The Party Nominating Officer can then appoint as many Deputy Nominating Officers as he (or she) wishes. A simple letter, signed by the Party Nominating Officer, is all it needs. However, in the past every branch had its own nominating officer, often appointed with a letter that was issued with no expiry date or restrictions to scope. There are therefore 1,000s of potential nominating officers out there. While I was on the NEC a program was started to rationalise the position. I have no idea what happened to it after Peter Reeve became Party Nominating Officer.
Steve,
Thx for clearing this up. It used to be Alan Wood who was very efficient. Reeves/Duffy & Crowther have limited admin talents but they are all NF sycophants hopig to be on MEP slates.
Eric.
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