The '''United Kingdom Independence Party''', also known by the acronym '''UKIP''' (pronounced "you-kip", its followers affectionately known as "Kippers"), is a [[conservative]] and [[Euroskeptic]] political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1993, it campaigns for [[British]] withdrawal from the [[European Union]] (EU). Its support-base is made up substantially of social conservative, traditional conservative and libertarian voters who are opposed to the surrender of British [[sovereignty]]. The party was dominated by [[Nigel Farage]], who served on-and-off as party leader from its creation until 2016. Prior to the 2016 [[Brexit]] referendum, it was also one of the fastest-growing British political parties; according to a YouTube interview with Farage in May 2015, the party had 47,000 members.
The party has faded into relative obscurity as of 2023.
==Political influence==
UKIP's top goal, of leaving the EU, was achieved when the British people voted to leave the EU in [[Brexit|a referendum]] held on June 23, 2016.<ref>Armstrong, Paul (July 15, 2016). [https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/24/europe/eu-referendum-nigel-farage/ Nigel Farage: Arch-eurosceptic and Brexit 'puppet master']. ''CNN''. Retrieved October 4, 2016.</ref>
==Leadership crisis==
Gerard Batten's term as leader of UKIP ended on 2 June 2019, triggering a leadership election, which he announced he would be standing in. UKIP's National Executive Committee prohibited him from doing so, on the grounds that he had "brought the party into disrepute" over his links with [[Tommy Robinson]]. Richard Braine, a supporter of Batten's previous leadership, was elected as leader on the 10 August 2019, only to resign from the party leadership in the following October, citing the NEC's "purge" of party members (who were loyal to Batten). The position of Former leader is Nigel Farage would later go on to co-found the [[Brexit Party]], now vacantknown as Reform UK.
==Incomplete list of election results==
In the 2008 European elections, UKIP came second, with 16.5% of the vote and 13 of the UK's 78 seats in the [[European Parliament]]. In the Parliamentary election of May 6, 2010, UKIP got 3.1% of the vote, a total of 917,232, an increase of 50% on the previous parliamentary election vote. However, owing to the electoral system, they still did not receive any MPs; therefore, the party is fervently in support for [[proportional representation]], forging an unlikely alliance with the Green Party of England and Wales (an eco-socialist party) and the [[Liberal Democrats]] (an allegedly centrist party, although a significant proportion of its policies come from the social democratic – ''i.e.'' [[socialist]] – trend). UKIP has historically had 2 members in the [[House of Lords]].
In 2013, UKIP achieved a milestone in the local elections when 147 councillors were elected across the UK adding to the 50-60 councillors that were already in place.