Having helped the UK leave the EU it's now clear that UKIP is descending into farce, faction fighting, incoherence, and potential irrelevance as its newly elected leader, Diane James, resigned last night after just eighteen days in office. This would be of no consequence but for three reasons.
The first is that this is yet another indication of the collapse of parts of British politics.
The second is that the fate of UKIP looks to be a foretaste of the Brexit troubles to come for the UK as a whole.
And third, put the two together and then wonder on the risk to the Conservatives when they too realise that the issue that kept many of their members in the party ceases to be a totemic dream and becomes an electoral curse.
Interesting times.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
I’ve thought for a while that the Conservative Party cannot keep sailing through the storm papering over the cracks. Of course they’re helped by the fact the Tories have always been an aspirational club rather than a real political party. It’s time for a big realignment and it has to be linked to introduction of PR.
I share your enthusiasm for the idea but I always saw UKIP as a bad stain on British politics that would be very hard to eradicate.
Indeed I still see it as something that can just pop out of the swamp if it feels that it has to.
And like the more nastier parties in British politics it will find some way to stick together in order to reach its fatal objectives.
And then there’s always some fool with plenty of money these days who will act as the paymaster general for such folly.
We need to watch UKIP like a hawk.
So what will replace the collapsed UKIP? Something more extreme?
Interesting question
Farage’s return, phoenix like, from the ashes and pile of stink, no doubt.
Us all this just an exercise to prove the Great Leader is needed?
That’s what de Gaulle did.
I think that the Tories will try to assume the UKIP mantle by being seen as the party that takes us out of Europe in 2019. The 2020 election has already been won in my view.
If the fundamentals that UKIP breed on persist (uncontrolled immigration and its impact on the job market and continued austerity) UKIP might well become bigger.
But the fracas around the UKIP leadership does not look good. But then again Farage deals with these things rather well I have to say – I can see his appeal to people. The fact that UKIP seesm to badly organised may appeal to those who are sick of ‘slick politics’.
Blackshirts. Although that may come from within the Tories at this rate.
I couldn’t bear to watch much of the Tory Conference – I vomit too easily these days! But the Tory’s seem to be parking their tanks very much on UKIPs lawn. I can’t help but feel the pendulum is still swinging to the Right entering completely non-linear territory (this is a maths analogy) with a very unpredictable future. Why bother with Farage when May is actually in power?