UKIP gets first MP.
Not wishing to sound jealous or anything, but those jammy sods over at UKIP have just picked up their first Westminster MP! :shock: He is Bob Spink, who a few weeks back either resigned from the Tory Party or was expelled, depending on who you listen to. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/04/22/nukip122.xml Tory rebel Bob Spink becomes Ukip's first MP By Robert Winnett and Rosa Prince Last Updated: 12:51am BST 22/04/2008 The UK Independence Party will today announce it has gained its first member of Parliament after a former Conservative MP agreed to join the party just nine days before the local elections. Bob Spink, the MP for Castle Point in Essex, said he was "increasingly disappointed" with the Conservative Party, which expelled him last month. The defection is being heralded as a coup by Ukip. Bob Spink was expelled from the Conservative Party last month Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Spink said last night: "I am delighted to join the Ukip team, helping to fight for Britain's interests in Europe and for better policy on the issues that really matter to people. "I have been increasingly disappointed with the Tory Party's failure to be honest with the public on a wide range of issues like pensions, crime, immigration and defence. "Dishonesty over the EU constitution is the Tories' greatest failure. "They heap criticism on other parties, but refuse to remove the constitution if they ever get power. "The public see this as opportunistic and hypocritical, but sadly, it is typical of Westminster politics. "It is little wonder the public hold politicians in such contempt." advertisement Mr Spink was welcomed to Ukip by Nigel Farage, the party's leader. "I am delighted to welcome the hard-working and deeply principled Bob Spink as Ukip's first member of Parliament," he said. Lord Willoughby de Broke, a Ukip peer, added: "I am thrilled that Ukip now has a representative in the House of Commons. "I look forward to working with him to further Ukip's programme of leaving the European Union." Mr Spink is a controversial political figure who fell out with David Cameron after problems with his local constituency party. Senior Conservative sources insisted last night that they were relaxed about Mr Spink defecting and said Ukip were "welcome to him". A Tory insider said: "You won't find many tears being shed over this in the Conservative Party - more like the sound of popping corks." Ukip presented a serious electoral threat to the Conservatives three years ago, when the party finished third in the 2004 European elections after recruiting Robert Kilroy-Silk, the former chat show host. However, Mr Kilroy-Silk quit the party amid acrimony just nine months later and founded his own party, Veritas. Ukip went on to lose its deposit in more than 450 seats at the 2005 general election. Mr Cameron's relatively Euro-sceptic views are thought to have helped to stop Ukip's appeal spreading among other Conservative supporters. Mr Spink was first elected to Parliament in 1992. He lost his seat in 1997, but regained it in 2001, and Ukip sources said they are confident he will retain his seat at the next general election.

It's encouraging for UKIP but we'll see how it plays out in the long run. In the meantime, it shows that small political parties can slowly but surely break into the mainstream and that is encouraging for the Liberal Party. I think all UKIP members ought to hold off on popping champagne corks until we win a parliamentary seat outright in our own right.

UKIP is surely a lot bigger than the Liberal Party anyway? In 2005 UKIP got about 22 times more votes, with 1/10 of the Lib Dem percentage. I suppose, though, that UKIP is far more thinly spread and therefore the Liberals could be as close to winning a seat. Except that the only Liverpool seat where I can find any trace of a Liberal Party candidate is Liverpool Walton where they came last, behind UKIP. In addition, the Labour majority there is enormous - it's not even marginal for the Conservatives or even the second-placed Lib Dems, let alone the Liberals.

Yes exactly - UKIP is much bigger than the Liberal Party, but UKIP's support is much more thinly spread. In a few tiny pockets of Britain, the Liberal Party is a real force, with activists, newsletters and well-known local councillors. Go five miles down the road and nobody has even heard of the party. I'm not sure if the best strategy would be to try to spread recognition of the Liberal Party nationwide without losing that local focus, or alternatively to concentrate on enlarging those local pockets of support to the point where the Liberals could win a Westminster seat in one of them. I suppose, though, that UKIP is far more thinly spread and therefore the Liberals could be as close to winning a seat. Except that the only Liverpool seat where I can find any trace of a Liberal Party candidate is Liverpool Walton where they came last, behind UKIP. I think the Liberals had about a dozen general election candidates in 2005. Unsurprisingly, our best results tended to be where the Liberal Party has significant local council groups, eg Exeter, Wyre Forest, Liverpool West Derby. The highest scoring candidates in 2005 were Fran Oborski in Wyre Forest (5.7%, 4th) and Steve Radford in Liverpool West Derby (11.8% 3rd) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/654.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/379.stm