Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Dil, yes they are putting it down to a protest vote and saying that it is a one policy party. If it's a one policy party then doesn't that send out a message to the Conservatives, Labour & Liberal parties exactly what people in this country are protesting about. I'm not a racist, but I strongly object to the fact that we don't have a stringent immigration policy in place and our doors are open to thugs and terrorists who arrive from other countries and then can't be deported.

Why are voters surging to Ukip? Immigration, Europe and dissent, says YouGov.

The pollsters asked Ukip voters to tick the reasons why they back the eurosceptic party. They said:

Want immigration reduced (76pc)
Want Britain to leave the EU (59pc)
Unhappy with the major parties (47pc)
Unhappy with David Cameron and his Government (25pc)
Ukip reflects my personal values and beliefs (20pc)
Positive impression of Nigel Farage (15pc)
"Sends a message" (14pc)
Unhappy over gay marriage (12pc)
New party deserves a chance (9pc)
Ukip would run the country well (8pc)

Im betting their will be defections over from the torries to UKIP, slowly at first then gradualy gaining pace.

How can the working/middle class tory place himself at the side of a leader surrounded by an elete of Eton public school boys who have lived off bolly down at the bully club.

Thursdays BBC newsnight photocall of Cameron with the posh boys has done a lot of damage.

Shame the penny hasnt dropped with cyners and hays, who tho are deluded right wing nutters seem decent chaps to me.

A spokesman for the Conservatives has just said on the BBC news when asked about the rise of UKIP, "We must now start listening to the people".

The question is why?
Did he mean because they should do, no! it's because they need the voters to come back to their party.

I suppose that comment means that before today the Conservatives were ignoring the people!

Also it is beyond belief if people take Cameron at his word that there will be a referendum on the EU after his about turn on his promise re a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

at the moment, ukip merely has a wish-list rather than properly thought out and costed policies ..... if they expect to be credible and have any meaningful voice at the next general election, then they have a huge amount of work to do ...... if they do not, they will be shredded in the lead-up, partly by the other parties, but much more importantly, by political commentators and similar

for all that, ukip's success in these local elections means that all the major parties need to wake up pdq and listen - and more importantly get their own "meaningful policies" costed and on the table

You mean the TORY party has to waken up ie, in the singular.

UKIP win over torries at general election would be best thing that could happen for labour.

ever one you talk to wants migrants out of the uk .
ukip will grow stronger after today

GRANT SHAPPS IS A IGNORANT PERSON AND NOT VERY HONEST
it is people like him that have destroyed the con party liars

john redwood as just spoken and is 100% correct

Shapps is a little runt. The torries themselves
cant abide him.

Noticed he was moved sideways to chairman to get him out of the way.

the try party is just full of liars and dishonest runts .
UKIP ARE THE PARTY OF THE PEOPLE

of much greater interest than you guys, and far more intelligent and balanced to boot, was listening to john pienaar + 3 other heavyweight political commentators on radio 4

among plenty of other nuggets .....

the vote split in these local elections has been 29% labour (same as when they lost the last general election, though not quite a fair comparison), 25% conservative, 23% ukip, 14% lib/dems

as was observed, the (centre) right now musters 48%, and ukip assuredly would not align itself with labour - but that of course always assumes ukip wins a meaningful number of seats in a general election, which is by no means guaranteed under "first past the post"

===========

these local elections were almost entirely in the shires - i.e. no metropolitan or scottish elections

therefore, it is just possible that with the inclusion of those, labour might become the largest party, but assuredly no overall majority ...... so certainly nothing for labour to start crowing about either

that meagre 4% lead over the conservatives won't cheer labour much either, though they will pretend otherwise

============

interesting times ahead

blah blah blah blah cynic.

No +weighting has been given to labour which it should have been done given that they are contesting tory heartland seats.

Commentators on both TV and radio are looking upon these results as if it were a contest where labour heartland seats were included in the votes which they obviously arent.

This electional all a long has been about Tory V UKIP and the Tory boys are getting their asses kicked and kicked hard.

The knives are out for Cameron and Osbourne.

like i said sticky, heavyweight political commentators such as john pienaar are much more intelligent and balanced than you and the rest of the blinkered posters of all persuasions on this site

that DC and GO could get more than a kicking from their backbenchers is certainly a possibility, but it sure hasn't been a kicking by labour

goldfinger - obnoxious as always. ever tried listening to a debate rather than dismissing it out of hand? I suppose your brain is just too small to contribute in a meaningful manner. Here's an afternoon thought for you; do you realise if both sides of the Northern Ireland problem were as dumb and as polarised as you, there would never have been peace. By the way, how's your golf, still playing off par?

Ken Clarke needs his silly ass kicked as well for coming out with such asinine comments about UKIP a couple of days ago.

the country has over 8m cleaning cars and sleeping in take away restaurants and pay no taxes the uk is a cesspit of illegal immigrants after a free ticket well we do not want them . and speaking to people in boston lincs they have had enough
and quite openly speaking out about the crime that thses immigrants bring with them .
we want out of the EU now

Of course it is a protest vote. UKIP have no real policies. Of course they are fruitcakes.

Doesnt say much for the torries then when they have been beaten by fruitcakes....ehh
hays.

there's certainly one on this site, but he's assuredly unelectable!