Difference between revisions of "United Kingdom Independence Party"

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The '''United Kingdom Independence Party''' (commonly known as '''UKIP''', {{pronEng|ˈjuːkɪp}}) <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THE "j" FROM THE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE - SEE THE IPA CHART TO SEE WHY IT SHOULD BE THERE. --> is a [[United Kingdom|British]] political party. Its principal aim is the withdrawal of the UK from the [[European Union]]. UKIP currently has 10 seats in the [[European Parliament]] and two in the [[House of Lords]]. It also has around 30 local councillors on principal authorities, town and parish councils. The party has around 16,700 members.<ref>[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/files/dms/UKIPSoA2006_26874-19884__E__N__S__W__.pdf Electoral Commission files]</ref>
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The '''United Kingdom Independence Party''', also known by the acronym '''UKIP''', is a British political party. Founded in 1993, it campaigns for [[British]] withdrawal from the [[European Union]] (EU). Its support-base is made up substantially of right-wing voters disaffected from the [[Conservative Party]], and its platform contains other [[conservative]] policies.
  
The party's policy is that the United Kingdom "shall again be governed by laws made to suit its own needs by its own Parliament, which must be directly and solely accountable to the electorate of the UK".<ref>http://www.ukip.org/index.php?menu=theconstitution&page=constitution</ref> Other aspects of policy include promises to reduce taxation, the preservation of the [[pound sterling]], promises to be tough on crime, and tighter controls on immigration.
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In the British Parliament, UKIP has no representatives in the [[House of Commons (UK)|House of Commons]] (having won only 2.4% of the vote in the 2005 general election) and 2 representatives in the [[House of Lords]]. It won 12 of the UK's 78 seats in the [[European Parliament]] in the 2004 European elections.
  
In the [[European Parliament election, 2004|2004 European elections]], UKIP received 2.7 million votes (16.8% of the national vote), gaining twelve seats in the [[European Parliament]]. However, in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 General Election]], the party received only 618,000 votes (2.38% of the vote).  
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UKIP's present leader, [[Nigel Farage]], is attempting to present the party as having a broad political agenda extending beyond withdrawal from the [[EU]]. Consistently with this aim, he is seeking to change the party's name to "the Independence Party".
  
==History==
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[[Category:British Political Parties]]
===Early years===
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UKIP was founded in 1993, by [[Alan Sked]] and other members of the all-party [[Anti-Federalist League]]. Its central aim was to seek the withdrawal of the [[United Kingdom]] from the [[European Union]]. The new party attracted many from the anti-European wing of the Conservative Party, which was split on the European question after the [[pound sterling|pound]] was forced out of the [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] in 1992 and the struggle over ratification of the [[Maastricht Treaty]]. UKIP candidates stood in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 general election]], but were overshadowed by [[James Goldsmith]]'s [[Referendum Party]]. After the election, Sked resigned the leadership and left the party which was, he said, 'doomed to remain on the political fringes'. However, Goldsmith's death soon after the election precipitated the dissolution of the Referendum Party, with a resulting influx of new UKIP supporters. The leadership election was won by millionaire businessman [[Michael Holmes (politician)|Michael Holmes]], and in the 1999 elections to the [[European Parliament]] UKIP surprised commentators by picking up three seats and 7% of the vote. In that election, Nigel Farage ([[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]]), Jeffrey Titford ([[East of England (European Parliament constituency)|East of England]]), and Michael Holmes ([[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]]) were elected.
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Over the following months there was a power struggle between the leader, Michael Holmes, and the party's National Executive Committee (NEC). This was partly due to Holmes making a speech which was perceived to call for greater powers for the [[European Parliament]] against the [[European Commission]]. In a stormy meeting, ordinary party members forced the resignation of both Holmes and the entire NEC. Holmes resigned from the party itself in March 2000. There was a legal battle when he tried to continue as an independent MEP until resigning from the European Parliament in December 2002, when he was replaced by [[Graham Booth]], the second candidate on the UKIP list in South West England.
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[[Jeffrey Titford]] was narrowly elected to the vacant leadership, and succeeded in healing many of the wounds left by the previous infighting. 
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===2001 General Election===
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UKIP put up candidates in more than 420 seats in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001 general election]], coming fifth in terms of votes cast (but with just 1.5% of the vote) and failing to win any representation at Westminster. It also failed to break through in the elections to the [[Scottish Parliament]] or the Welsh Assembly, despite those elections being held under [[proportional representation]]. In 2002 Titford stood down as party leader, but continued to sit as a UKIP MEP.  He was replaced as leader by [[Roger Knapman]].
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===Kilroy-Silk===
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In late 2004, reports in the mainstream UK press speculated on if or when former [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MP and chat show host [[Robert Kilroy-Silk]] would take control of the party. These reports were heightened by Kilroy-Silk's speech at the UKIP party conference in Bristol on [[2 October]] [[2004]], in which he called for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] to be "killed off" (following UKIP's forcing the Conservatives into fourth place in [[Hartlepool by-election, 2004|Hartlepool]]).
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Interviewed by [[Channel 4]] television, Kilroy-Silk did not deny having ambitions to lead the party, but underlined that Roger Knapman would lead it into the next general election. However, the next day, on ''Breakfast with [[David Frost (broadcaster)|Frost]]'', he criticised Knapman's leadership. After further disagreement with the leadership, on [[27 October]] [[2004]] Kilroy-Silk resigned the UKIP whip in the European Parliament. Initially, he remained a member, while seeking a bid for the party leadership. However, this was not successful, and Kilroy-Silk resigned completely from UKIP on [[20 January]] [[2005]], calling it a "joke". Two weeks later, he founded his own party, [[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]], taking several UKIP members, including both London Assembly members, with him. Kilroy-Silk has subsequently resigned from Veritas.
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===2006 leadership election===
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In October 2005, [[Petrina Holdsworth]] resigned as Chairman of UKIP and from the party's National Executive Committee. She was replaced as Chairman "on an interim basis" by the party's former leader, [[Jeffrey Titford]] MEP. In December 2005, [[David Campbell-Bannerman]], a former Conservative, became the new party chairman, appointed by the party leader, [[Roger Knapman]] MEP. Knapman's four-year term as leader ended in June 2006, triggering a leadership contest that saw four challengers ([[Richard Suchorzewski]], David Campbell-Bannerman, [[David Noakes]] and  [[Nigel Farage]]), from which Farage emerged as victor on [[12 September]] [[2006]]. 
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Farage's stated intention is to broaden public perception of UKIP beyond merely being a party seeking to get the UK out of the EU, to one of being a [[free market]] party broadly standing for traditional [[Conservatism|conservative]] and [[libertarian]] values.
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===Proposed change of name===
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It was announced on [[5 February]] [[2007]] that UKIP intends to change its name to '''Independence Party''' in a bid to attract Conservative voters. This change will be subject to a postal ballot of members, and would have to be accepted by the [[Electoral Commission]] under the Registration of Political Parties Act.<ref>http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200702/742751d5-2e09-4430-92fd-0b93c9865fa6.htm</ref>
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==Policies==
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Although the UKIP's original ''raison d'être'' was, without a doubt, the [[European Union|EU]], it has now expanded from being a [[single-issue party]] to developing a full domestic agenda, starting with a wide-ranging review and the establishment of a policy development group. UKIP has now produced detailed policy documents on taxation <ref>http://www.ukip.org/pdf/ukipflattaxpolicy.pdf</ref> and education <ref>http://www.ukip.org/pdf/ukipeducation.pdf</ref>.
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UKIP also opposes the extension of state funding for political parties. Its economic stance is based what it claims to be the need for much lower taxation in order to compete internationally, a position which has been reinforced since the election of Nigel Farage as leader in September 2006.
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===On Europe===
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UKIP contends that the EU is corrupt, that it is undemocratic, that Britain's membership is very expensive, and that Britain's sovereignty is diluted by being part of a large bloc. In particular, it perceives the latter issue as being so fundamental a problem that only complete withdrawal from the Union can address it. For this reason, the aim of British withdrawal from the EU is written into UKIP's constitution. In line with this, one of UKIP's political goals is to break what it sees as the pro-EU consensus among the three established parties, and prevent the introduction of the [[euro]] and the adoption of a [[European constitution]].
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===ID Cards===
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UKIP is against the planned introduction of [[British national identity card|identity cards]], believing them to be ineffective as a way of combating fraud and terrorism, and an infringement of individual liberty. In December 2004 UKIP affiliated to the anti-ID card campaign, [[No2ID]]. Concern for civil liberties also led UKIP to oppose the Civil Contingencies Act 2004<ref>http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/20040036.htm</ref>, which gives additional powers to the UK [[Home Secretary]] in broadly defined "emergency situations". UKIP's [[Jeffrey Titford]] [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] condemned the bill as "totalitarian". <ref>http://ukip.org/abc_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=974</ref>
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===Devolution and Unionism===
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Although UKIP is strongly opposed to the loss of powers to the EU, as a strong supporter of the [[Acts of Union|Union]] it argues that, within the UK itself, power should rest in Westminster. It therefore both opposes the notion of a [[devolved English parliament]] and argues that the [[Scottish Parliament]] and [[National Assembly for Wales|Welsh]] and [[Northern Ireland Assembly|Northern Irish Assemblies]] should be abolished, with all parliamentary powers returning to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster]].
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===Climate change===
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UKIP believed that the [[United Kingdom Climate Change Bill|Climate Change Bill]], published by the Labour Government in March 2007, reflected a failure to devise a viable plan for alternative sources of energy to replace [[fossil fuel]]s: it considered that the Bill was 'deeply misguided'.
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UKIP argues in favour of the expansion of [[Nuclear power in the United Kingdom|nuclear power]] for reasons of energy security as well as to cut carbon emissions. In line with American policy, it does not think large-scale cuts of carbon emissions are necessary. It also argues that plans to invest in [[Wind power in the United Kingdom|wind power]] are uneconomic.<ref>{{cite web
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|url=http://www.ukip.org/ukip/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=240&Itemid=62
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|title=Environmental Policy
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|publisher=[[United Kingdom Independence Party]]
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|date=[[2007]]
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|accessdate=2007-10-17
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}}</ref>
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==Electoral performance 2004-2007==
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UKIP's first electoral success was the election of three MEPs in 1999, and it made further advances in 2004. Although it increased its share of the vote in both the [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001 General Election]] and [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 General Election]], it did not achieve the same levels of vote as in those elections to the European Parliament.
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UKIP's expectations were high before the [[European Parliament election, 2004|2004 European Parliament election]], with a number of opinion polls &ndash; starting with one from [[YouGov]] - showed them on course to beat the [[Liberal Democrats]] and pick up a dozen MEPs.  The prediction proved accurate, with UKIP winning 16.8% of the vote and taking third place nationally with 12 seats. UKIP won seats in eight regions, taking votes from all three major political parties. It came second, ahead of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, in four regions: South West, South East, Eastern and East Midlands. In the East Midlands region UKIP came within a percentage point of being top of the poll. UKIP received assistance in coordinating its 2004 election campaign from [[Dick Morris]], formerly [[Bill Clinton]]'s campaign advisor who has since emerged as an advocate of US [[unilateralism]] and an opponent of the EU.
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The party had hoped to sustain its momentum in the 2005 General Election, but despite fielding 495 candidates, the party failed to win any seats at Westminster. At the general election, UKIP gained 618,000 votes, or 2.4% of the total votes cast (an increase of 220,000 votes/0.9% from its result in the 2001 general election). Although this may be regarded as respectable for a small party, and sufficient to place it fourth in terms of total votes cast behind the [[Liberal Democrats]], the Liberal Democrats polled, as is customary, in excess of 20% of the total vote cast.  UKIP's best result on election night was in Boston & Skegness, where their candidate Richard Horsnell came third with 9.6% of the vote.
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In the first parliamentary election test of 2006, UKIP came eighth out of nine candidates in the [[Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, 2006|Dunfermline and West Fife by-election]] on [[9 February]] [[2006]], and their candidate lost his deposit, polling only 208 votes (0.6%). 
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In the 2006 English local elections, UKIP won its first borough council seat in [[Hartlepool]] when Stephen Allison was elected to serve as Councillor for the St. Hilda Ward; however, a councillor in [[Metropolitan Borough of Wirral|Wirral]] who had recently defected to UKIP from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] failed to be re-elected for her new party, so UKIP's overall net gain was zero. UKIP also beat Labour into fourth place in the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election in June 2006. The UKIP candidate, [[Nigel Farage]], came third with 8.1% of the vote, against Labour's 6.6%.
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In February 2007, Henry Reilly, a [[Ulster Unionist Party]] councillor in [[Newry and Mourne District Council|Newry and Mourne]] defected to UKIP. He subsequently stood as a UKIP candidate in the [[Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007|Assembly election]] for the [[South Down (Assembly constituency)|South Down constituency]], their first-ever candidate in Northern Ireland. He polled 1,229 votes, 2.7% of the poll.
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In the May local elections UKIP fielded its highest number of candidates, just under a thousand. Six UKIP councillors were up for re-election in the [[United Kingdom local elections, 2007|2007 Local Elections]]. Four lost their seats, two were re-elected and three new seats were won, leaving the party with a net loss of one councillor. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2007/local_councils/html/region_99999.stm</ref>
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In the regional list vote for the [[National Assembly for Wales election, 2007|Welsh Assembly Election]] the party polled 38,490 votes, 3.9% of the total, an increase of 9,063 votes from the [[National Assembly for Wales election, 2003|2003 election]] when they polled 3.5% of the total. In the [[Scottish Parliament election, 2007|Scottish Parliament elections]] the party polled 8,197 votes, 0.4% of the total, a fall of 3,772 votes from the [[Scottish Parliament election, 2003|2003 election]] when they polled 0.6% of the total.
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On [[22 May]] [[2007]] UKIP announced that a Conservative Councillor in the [[London Borough of Sutton]] had defected to the party over the issue of the Conservatives' perceived lack of support for [[grammar schools in the United Kingdom|grammar schools]].<ref>http://www.ukip.org/ukip_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=3045</ref> On [[19 July]] [[2007]], Dr. K.T. Rajan polled 285 votes (0.8%) in the [[Ealing Southall by-election, 2007| Ealing Southall by-election]] coming 6th out of 12 candidates. [[Toby Horton]] polled 536 votes (1.9%)in the [[Sedgefield by-election, 2007| Sedgefield by-election]] held on the same day, coming 6th out of 11 candidates.
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==Relationship with other parties==
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===The Conservatives===
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UKIP is often seen as a "Tory pressure group", whose main aim is to persuade the Conservative Party to support withdrawal from the European Union. Many prominent members of UKIP are former members of the Conservative Party, such as former UKIP leader Roger Knapman; in addition, some of the staff at Conservative Central Office are former UKIP candidates. {{fact|date=January 2008}}
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Although UKIP did not come close to winning any seats at the 2005 general election, they polled well enough that their votes, if added to the Conservative candidates totals constituency by constituency, would have led to Conservative majorities in 22 more seats (13 of which were won by Labour, 9 by the Liberal Democrats). This has led to UKIP being criticised for preventing the election of eurosceptic Conservative MPs. UKIP counter by saying that they will not oppose Conservatives who support the [[Better Off Out]] campaign. A recent [[ConservativeHome]] survey revealed that 43% of surveyed members of the Conservative Party felt that UKIP was the closest party to their views (apart from the Conservative Party itself)<ref>http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2006/12/tory_members_ar.html</ref>, with 66% either supporting or sympathising with the Better Off Out campaign. 6 Conservative MPs have signed the Better Off Out petition.
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In April 2006, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] leader [[David Cameron]] called UKIP members "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists" while talking on [[LBC]] radio in London after a question about UKIP using the Freedom of Information Act to force the disclosure of donors. UKIP demanded an apology for the "closet racists" remark and threatened legal action for slander, although this was later dropped, on the grounds that to sue the party would have to prove loss, and the comment had actually had a positive effect for UKIP. Conservative MP [[Bob Spink]] criticised his leader's remarks, as did the pro-Conservative ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.
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<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/05/dl0502.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/05/ixnewstop.html</ref>
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In April 2007 an undercover journalist was found to be spying on the UK Independence Party.
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Tom Harper, a journalist on the [[Sunday Telegraph]], used his middle name to try to delude the party into thinking he was a supporter, but according to UKIP still kept his real name on his voicemail and forgot to use his fake e-mail address. They claim that they initially thought he was a plant and played him along by feeding him "laughable made-up stories", but once they found out that he was a journalist, they threw him out. UKIP described the journalist as the "Worst plant since giant hogweed".<ref>http://ukip.org/ukip_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=3008</ref>
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====Defection of Conservative Peers to UKIP====
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On [[9 January]] [[2007]], two former Conservative peers defected from the Conservative Party to the UKIP. Lords [[Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch| Pearson]] and [[David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke| Willoughby de Broke]] joined the UKIP as they felt the Conservative Party was not producing policy to support their beliefs. They had previously had the Conservative whip withdrawn when they had encouraged voters to support UKIP. Other high-profile Conservatives have defected to UKIP, but this is the first example of sitting parliamentarians doing so. On [[20 January]] [[2007]] the [[Earl of Dartmouth]], also a former Tory peer, defected.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6281423.stm</ref>
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===Far-right parties===
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UKIP's constitution contains a clause guaranteeing that the party will not discriminate on the grounds of race and will be non-sectarian, and the party's rules require all candidates to declare that they have no past or present links with far-right organisations.
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It has been a stated policy of the [[British National Party]] (BNP) to "eliminate" UKIP, as they perceive that UKIP's existence prevents them from capitalising on the issue of EU membership. The BNP has infiltrated UKIP in the past, notably in the cases of Mark Deavin, a UKIP head office researcher (hired by the party founder Alan Sked) who was exposed as a BNP agent in 1997, and John Brayshaw in 2004. <ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20040803160702/http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=114033</ref> The aim appears simply to have been to damage UKIP.
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==Minority members of UKIP==
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The first ethnic-minority candidate to represent UKIP in a parliamentary by-election was [[Ashwinkumar Tanna]], a [[pharmacist]] who had previously been an independent candidate for [[Mayor of London]]. He represented UKIP in the [[Tottenham by-election, 2000]]; his campaign, which called for British withdrawal from the EU and fairer treatment for immigrants.
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Perhaps the best-known black member of UKIP is former TV chef [[Rustie Lee]], who stood as a candidate in the 2005 general election and also appeared in the party's election broadcast that year. The most senior black member of the UKIP leadership is [[Delroy Young]], another general election candidate, who was elected to the party's NEC in 2006 (coming 2nd out of 46 candidates). UKIP's only Muslim local councillor to date was [[Mohammed Yaqub]], originally elected as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] to [[Walsall]] Metropolitan Borough Council. He and a colleague defected to UKIP in 2004 but were defeated in their re-election bids a few months later.
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==Current representatives==
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UKIP has two working peers in the House of Lords, who joined the party in January 2007 after defecting from the Conservative Party. Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Willoughby de Broke will form a new grouping within the House of Lords to actively seek to encourage more Lords to defect to the new UKIP group.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/09/uukip106.xml</ref> UKIP has about nine district councillors and seventeen town/parish councillors. Although the party does not provide a list of councillors, an unofficial list is maintained on the British Democracy Forum.
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<ref>http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/ukip-general-issues/43811-new-list-ukip-councillors.html</ref>
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[[Ashley Mote]], who was elected as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] for UKIP in 2004 but had the [[party whip]] withdrawn within days, joined the far-right [[Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty]] grouping in the [[European Parliament]], alongside parties like the French [[National Front (France)|National Front]]. Mote, who was elected for the [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England constituency]], had the UKIP whip removed on [[15 July]] [[2004]], because he had not informed them previously of an imminent court case involving housing [[benefit fraud]]. He was subsequently made to leave the party and is currently serving a 9-month jail sentence for several counts of fraud.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6975627.stm MEP is jailed for benefit fraud] BBC News, [[4 September]] [[2007]]</ref> On [[28 February]] [[2007]] UKIP suspended [[Tom Wise]] due to his being under investigation by [[OLAF]] (the European Anti Fraud Office)<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1454696.ece UKIP in disarray after MEP is suspended over fraud allegation], Times Online Edition, 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2008-01-21</ref>.
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The remaining MEPs are:
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{| class="wikitable"
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|[[East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|East Midlands]]
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|[[Derek Clark]]
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|-
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|[[East of England (European Parliament constituency)|East of England]]
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|[[Jeffrey Titford]]
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|-
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|[[London (European Parliament constituency)|London]]
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|[[Gerard Batten]]
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|-
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|[[North West England (European Parliament constituency)|North West England]]
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|[[John Whittaker]]
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|-
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|[[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]]
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|[[Nigel Farage]]
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|-
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|[[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]]<br>
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|[[Graham Booth]], [[Roger Knapman]]
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|-
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|[[West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|West Midlands]]
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|[[Mike Nattrass]]
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|-
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|[[Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire and the Humber]]
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|[[Godfrey Bloom]]
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|-
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|[[East of England (European Parliament constituency)|East of England]]
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|[[Tom Wise]] (currently suspended)
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|}
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== Leaders of the UK Independence Party since 1993 ==
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*[[Alan Sked|Dr Alan Sked]] 1993-1997
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*[[Craig Mackinlay]] 1997 (acting leader)
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*[[Michael Holmes (politician)|Michael Holmes]] 1997-2000 (MEP from 1999 on)
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*[[Jeffrey Titford|Jeffrey Titford, MEP]] 2000-2002
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*[[Roger Knapman|Roger Knapman, MEP]] 2002-2006
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*[[Nigel Farage|Nigel Farage, MEP]] 2006-present
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== Eurosceptics in the European Parliament ==
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In [[2004]], 37 [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]]s from the UK, [[Poland]], [[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]] founded a new [[European Parliament]] group called ''[[Independence and Democracy]]'' from the old [[Europe of Democracies and Diversities]] (EDD) group. The main goals of this group are to reject the [[Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe]] and to oppose further European integration{{fact|date=October 2007}}. Some delegations within the group, including UKIP, advocate the complete withdrawal of their country from the EU. The group's leaders are [[Nigel Farage]] of UKIP and [[Jens-Peter Bonde]] of Denmark.
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== See also==
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* [[Euroscepticism]]
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== External links==
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*[http://www.ukip.org Official UKIP homepage]
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*[http://www.youtube.com/user/ukipwebmaster UKIP official [[YouTube]] channel]
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*[http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200406/698036bf-68f7-47a4-974d-b9b8aca98ca5.htm UKIP's MEPs explain their aims]
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*[http://www.junepress.com/coverpic.asp?BID=786 Full history of UKIP : "Hard Pounding, The Story of the UK Independence Party"]
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==References==
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{{reflist}}
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{{British_political_parties}}
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[[Category:Political parties in the United Kingdom]]
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[[Category:Eurosceptic parties]]
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[[Category:Political parties established in 1993]]
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[[Category:United Kingdom Independence Party| ]]
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[[cy:Plaid Annibyniaeth y DU]]
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[[de:United Kingdom Independence Party]]
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[[es:Partido por la Independencia del Reino Unido]]
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[[fr:Parti pour l'indépendance du Royaume-Uni]]
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[[kw:UKIP]]
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[[pl:Partia Niepodległości Zjednoczonego Królestwa]]
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[[simple:United Kingdom Independence Party]]
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[[sv:United Kingdom Independence Party]]
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[[zh:英國獨立黨]]
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Revision as of 16:13, March 1, 2008

The United Kingdom Independence Party, also known by the acronym UKIP, is a British political party. Founded in 1993, it campaigns for British withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Its support-base is made up substantially of right-wing voters disaffected from the Conservative Party, and its platform contains other conservative policies.

In the British Parliament, UKIP has no representatives in the House of Commons (having won only 2.4% of the vote in the 2005 general election) and 2 representatives in the House of Lords. It won 12 of the UK's 78 seats in the European Parliament in the 2004 European elections.

UKIP's present leader, Nigel Farage, is attempting to present the party as having a broad political agenda extending beyond withdrawal from the EU. Consistently with this aim, he is seeking to change the party's name to "the Independence Party".