I have written twice in the last three weeks that I thought Nuttall would lose in Stoke. He did but it was the manner of his defeat that did the real damage to UKIP. Stoke, as Farage said, was a very winnable seat but Nuttall's campaign simply collapsed in a morass of fake news and untruths. He never played for Tranmere. He never got a PhD in anything and worst of all he never lost any close friends in the Hillsborough disaster. He was exposed as a Walter Mitty fantasist that no sensible person could vote for.
Nuttall owed his MEP seat to Farage. In 2009 UKIP North West voted for Beaman as their number one MEP candidate but after that result Beaman having worked for many years to get that position on the UKIP slate mysteriously stood down under pressure from Farage. I well remember the late Piers Merchant UKIP's then returning officer telling me this. Thus Nuttall became an MEP and Farage yes man. As important it kept other MEPs not so beholden to Farage off the main media.
Nuttall was then appointed party chairman by Farage in which position I met him and found him a man of little intellect or ability.
Farage surrounded himself with Yes persons to keep those of real talent out of the power group, Towler, Duffy, Crowther etc but Nuttall was the most important. When Nuttall beame leader he kept on Towler and Duffy who were clearly visible in the Stoke debacle with I think Duffy saying the immortal words, "where the f**** the car", so Nuttall could make good his escape from his disaster like Napoleon after Waterloo.
He had followed the tactics that Farage had failed with seven times before.. Parachute into a by-election in a constituency you have never been too, Spend a lot of money, Get the UKIP army to support you and get defeated. People know a phoney candidate who does not want to represent them but only wants to get his bum on the green leather.
The same night the Tories pulled off a stunning victory with a local candidate whose only previous political experience had been as a Parish councillor. She was clearly committed to Copeland. Stoke was a mere convenience for Nuttall.
I watched QT from Stoke last night. Several of the locals who spoke from the floor would have made far better candidates than Nuttall. Diane James came closest for UKIP in a a tough contest in Eastleigh where she was a local, picked by the local party.
The lesson for UKIP is clear, Let the local party pick a local candidate and forget about Nuttall and his ilk. Learn from the Lib Dems who won with a very inexperienced but local candidate in Richmond but I am afraid UKIP never forgets its petty grudges and like the Bourbons learns nothing..
The pity is the loyal UKIP foot soldiers have been so betrayed by such a corrupt regime and I fear the war is lost.
There will be another by-election coming up in Andy Burnham's seat on Merseyside. That is where Nuttall should have stood but it may already be too late
7 comments:
I don't believe it is quite the end for UKIP, at least not until after Brexit is implemented in full and it rather looks like the Tories at least are going to keep their word. That said, unless the grassroots actually have a leadership worthy of their efforts, they will gradually fade away. A fish rots from the head as a saying goes, UKIP look like they need a decapitation.
I agree with you quiet man
I'm not surprised by the media now heralding Nigel Farage as probably the most successful politician of his generation, as they say he achieved us winning the referendum, but this is complete bollocks in my opinion.
I am one of the diehard Eurosceptics and like others I developed my views BEFORE Nigel was leader of UKIP. The most votes UKIP has ever got in any election was around the 4 million and I contend that this number would have supported UKIP whoever was leader. In fact a less corrupt and better team player would have won more votes.
So the reason we won the referendum was not because a minority of diehard Eurosceptics voted to leave but because many more reasonable Eurosceptics decided to have their say.
The bottom line is that Nigel nearly lost us the referendum by turning off these reasonable Eurosceptics but fortunately for us he was NOT the main focus during the campaign. Nigel's appeal had a limited audience as does Nuttal's.
In my opinion Nigel was a failure as in 20 years he failed to get one UKIP MP elected and his party, and it was HIS party, could and should have done much better and better lead and organised we should have won the referendum by at least 60 -40.
Interesting background on Paul F*ckall, which I didn't know. So Farage's malign influence continues.
I suggested a way forward for UKIP at http://thepurplescorpion.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/after-by-elections.html
In truth UKIP were finished the day Cameron conceded to hold the referendum. To the credit of Farage it was his message that forced Cameron to grant the referendum. That is a mighty legacy to have on your CV. I joined UKIP and fought two GE's because I believed UKIP was the only party serious about leaving the EU. Cameron realised that without the referendum, UKIP would win 40/50 seats in 2015. I left UKIP because I no longer felt UKIP were serious players in Brexit and because I experienced the sinister side of the party. Post Brexit UKIP should have started a new rallying campaign...a PR voting system for UK general elections. Not a chance of success but with an obvious appeal to fairness.
Major I became a Eurosceptic in 1971 when i saw the great campaign for entry from within the civil service.
I largely agree with the other comments.
Farage /UKIP pressure forced Dave to include referendum in Tory manifesto. He thought he could fix the result. He failed.
The referendum was mainly won by Dan Hanaan and Gisela Stuart.
I think UKIP will survive because the other parties have flaws.
I don't think Farage won the referendum - I think Blair did far more to help us leave than Farage (of course he didn't want to). Seeing EU immigrants being given housing that I couldn't afford under Blair convinced me to be anti the EU.
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