Dear Member,
As you are now probably aware, Tony McIntyre has taken the decision to stand down as Party Chairman. He dedicated far more than was expected and he was a pleasure to work with. It is right that he puts his own health first and I would personally like to offer him the thanks he clearly deserves. He has made clear that he will remain a loyal supporter and activist.
I have had the pleasure of meeting many of our members but for those I have not, let me give you a brief introduction; I began working for UKIP in the lead up to the 2014 European elections, answering the relentless telephone calls from supporters and detractors alike and administering donations and new members onto the party database. There were approximately 30 people working from Lexdrum House at that time and the atmosphere was truly electric.
Some of you may remember the late Ralph Gay. A founder member and an extraordinarily hilarious and grumpy character who acted in the capacity of Branch Administrator. After his untimely passing, I took over as Branch Administrator for a brief period whilst also setting up the UKIP vetting process. Thankfully, Ruth Purdie was able to take on the branches while I focused on vetting and candidates which is most likely how those of you who do recognise my name have come to know me. I must emphasise that having worked with the team at Lexdrum house, they really are an invaluable asset to our party.
It is an honour to have been appointed by Gerard as your new Chairman and having worked closely with 3 former Chairmen now, I have a pretty good idea of what I’ve let myself in for. I can assure you that I will work hard to support the entire 23000+ strong UKIP team and we certainly have an awful lot to be working towards. For me, the thing that I believe should be at the top of everyone’s priority list is Brexit! The nation WILL be shafted in one way or another and the path is clear for us to save it but we have to do this NOW. UKIP has the only Brexit plan that is truly for the people! CLICK HERE to read it (if you haven’t already) and please share with everyone you know. I’d like us to get some Brexit Plan leaflets ready in the next couple of weeks to distribute to regions and branches but they aren’t cheap. We need to raise around £30,000 for printing costs and delivery to regions. If you would like to donate to this vital cause, please CLICK HERE. If you can’t donate financially but have an hour or two to spare, please get in touch with your branch and ask for information on getting involved with leaflets or canvassing. If you’re not sure who your branch chairman is, contact HQ on 01626 830630 or email membership@ukip.org
Local elections are also just around the corner. It would be unrealistic and naive to expect us to have a candidate in each of the 8000 or so seats up for grabs, but we should try for at least half. If you are prepared to stand as a candidate, or even a paper candidate, please CLICK HERE to complete the short vetting form and let your branch chairman know that you’re ready. Of course, we still need to be prepared for the next General Election – whenever this may be. If you would like get started with the parliamentary candidate selection process, CLICK HERE but please note that you will need to be registered to myukip.com in order to access this page. We also need a strong campaign team and this is something I plan to get sorted straight away. I cannot stress just how important it is that the British public have an opportunity to vote for UKIP. Every vote against the establishment sends a clear message for Brexit.
You may also be wondering – Where do I stand on Tommy Robinson? Well, I’ve taken a rather simplistic view, and while I agree it is an important issue that warrants discussion, right now, we should be united in our fight for one issue – BREXIT! We have all worked too hard to let Brexit be betrayed and we must put all other internal matters to one side until it is achieved. For this reason, I would not be inclined to allow membership of anyone from any proscribed group at this time. Having said that, I entirely believe that our Leader has every right to seek support and advice from whoever he wishes. Gerard is doing an incredible job and has made some excellent decisions which have indisputably saved our party. I say we let him get on with speaking to people from all walks of life, in the interests of policy development and contributing to our party’s strategies going forward.
I’ve probably said more than enough now but I look forward to working with you all and I will try to keep you updated regularly and honestly.
Kind regards,
Kirstan Herriot
Party Chairman
PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES
It has been stated that the minimum cost of running for parliament is £500 deposit plus printing.
There are 27,227,700 residences in the country, and 650 constituencies. Thus 41,889 residences per constituency.
Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/adhocs/005374totalnumberofhouseholdsbyregionandcountryoftheuk1996to2015
For £500 you get your leaflet delivered to 41,889 residences. That is 1.2 pence per residence.
Many branches are short of delivery staff. 1.2p is a bargain.
Some people have suggested giving up the struggle. That seems wrong to me.
The UK is sliding into indolent spineless torpor and becoming a country we would not wish to live in. The main political parties are pathetic or even hostile. The Christian Church has abandoned the struggle.
Britain has been a huge success story over the centuries. Britain founded, within its empire, many of the best and richest countries in the world.
It is our duty to fight to preserve Britain.
The sacrifices we need to make are much less than the sacrifices of prior generations.
Regards,
Toby, 01932-873557
Toby, you are a senior person in UKIP. You must have led many campaigns and elections. So how do you get your basic maths so wrong? It seems like you don’t know what is involved. The Royal Mail address covers only the postage cost. You still have to pay to print the leaflets. Also there are other costs like taking 15 big boxes of leaflets to a regional mail depot in a van. The fact is that many potential UKIP voters often do not vote because they are so disillusioned. So having your name on the ballot form isn’t good enough, because your potential voters will never set foot inside a polling station to see it. They have to know you will run, so you have to send the leaflet, so you have to spend £700-800 to print them, then deliver the boxes to the royal mail for them to send out. So the cost is £500+£700 = £1,200. However, doing this is pointless if you are running behind in the national polls because there is no coherent national message. And it doesn’t help when candidates only get interested in the months running up to an election, there has to be a sustained effort. The only UKIP candidate I ever saw who has campaigned consistently in the same constituency for at least 5 years and over multiple elections was Tim Aker, and although he got very close he never got elected. If you go to any constituency page on Wikipedia and look through the election results for the last say 5 general elections you will note that UKIP rarely stands the same candidate twice.
Hello Tacitus,
Toby is conveying a positive message offering encouragement for the battles ahead.
And we’re back to being ignored again, so it will be a similar result to 2015 unless we offer more candidates in more constituencies.
If we’re saying “why bother”, our possible voters will agree and apathy will win again.
I understand that the 2015 debacle has left you disillusioned but I’m sure Battle of Britain pilots would rather they didn’t have to bother and Sir Francis Drake would have preferred to bowl.
Stuffing envelopes, forking out £500 and meeting the general public are minor inconveniences in comparison.
Sounds like you didn’t notice there was a general election in 2017. Actually 2015 was far better organised than 2017, partly due to 2017 being a surprise election. So that’s two opportunities you had to stand in the past three years and yet you took neither! It doesn’t have to be in your own constituency of residence, particularly last year there were over 200 unfilled candidates nationwide. In my neighbouring constituency a guy from Worcestershire ran as a paper candidate for UKIP. Seems you certainly took the message of ‘why bother’ to heart! Why you suddenly have a change of heart now, and after not standing for the last 2 elections you suddenly become all for standing?
@Tacitus,
You said,
“Bryan, you have never put your money in your pocket and paid the £500 plus the money to publicise yourself, so frankly your words are empty.”
I paid the £500 deposit for our UKIP candidate in our constituency.
I instructed our branch to keep the £500 deposit if returned. It’s not about me and I didn’t do it for thanks or glory.
I did it because it was the correct thing to do.
This is at least the third time you’ve been caught out lying. I hate liars.
Why lie ?
OK.
Hi Bryan / Tacitus.
I know the arithmetic and I know the odds… and I know that this goes against what I’ve said before…. but deep in my irrational guts… in my psyche…. i just want a final punch- up.
So i’m with Bryan.
Feck it all… Let’s go for it.
Death or Glory and all that…
K.
Well done Kev.
I’ve gee’d you up and now you gee someone else up.
It’s like we’re in a vice being slowly turned by the privileged and powerful. Now we have to be careful who we associate with. Now the Ruperts in the Common Purpose Army are taking the per.
I don’t know about you Kev but being told by people I detest, what to do and when to do it, means do the opposite as quickly and often as possible.
I’ll include Tacitus in this one too.
Hi Tacitus,
I notice you totally ignored the context of my comment and instantly focused on the wrong date. Tut tut.
As I mentioned at least twice previously, i was a hard working council candidate. We had a much better candidate for GEs. You must know that only one UKIP candidate will stand in each constituency.
You keep rattling on about my being a paper candidate.
In my defence I believe in localism and that politicians should be elected where they live and not parachuted here, there and everywhere.
Also I attended one Free Tommy Robinson/Free Speech protest outside Downing Street. You don’t want people like me causing problems for your children at school…….giggles.
Tacitus, please stop dwelling on the past and join Kev, myself and thousands of others in making a stand……….again.
Bryan, you have never put your money in your pocket and paid the £500 plus the money to publicise yourself, so frankly your words are empty. Spending £500 (utterly pointless) or £1,200 (marginally less pointless) or more likely £2,000 (still pretty pointless) with no thanks isn’t an experience most people will want to repeat. In fact the party has been digging around for candidates for the next election and is short – originally Gerald was supposed to do an announcement at conference but not enough people had put themselves forward to hit his target. So now is your big chance, you can put yourself forward to Kirstan to get onto the approved list, be vetted, and get your chequebook out! Will you do that?
But before you do, please also note, that if you spend £500 – £2,000 you will get zero thanks or credit from HQ, but on the other hand if you take that money (well, at least £1,000) and give it to the Patrons club then you will be a hero! You will be able to influence the leadership and NEC motions! You will get special access that ordinary members don’t get! So why be a mug, do the smart thing and donate to the patrons club instead. At least that is the message sent out by the party.
Dear Tacitus,
You said “You still have to pay to print the leaflets.”
I agree that the printing is also a cost, but pretty much the same whichever method of delivery is used.
I still think the 1.2p cost of delivery by Royal Mail is a bargain. That is because I calculate the cost of delivering by hand as follows: Assume 60 doors per hour. Assume a wage of £10 per hour. Cost per door = 17 pence. Much more than 1.2p.
Plus: Royal mail allows us to reach all doors, whereas with volunteers we rarely achieve that.
Regards,
Toby, 01932-873557
Good morning Kev,
I couldn’t reply directly as there is no REPLY button at the bottom of your comment. Too many comments queuing up apparently ???
I agree with you that Kirstan should be given leeway while she settles in to her new position. Best of British to her.
I also agree that it would be nice for members and newer supporters to tell us what they have to offer rather than turning up and throwing bricks around.
My comment regarding free speech was aimed at those that act as judge, jury and executioner because an unknown person may be offended.
Free speech conflict is the oppressor imposing the state’s orthodoxy on to the masses. If a candidate’s speech is disliked by a voter, they don’t have to vote for them and vice versa.
I’m curious – Luke Nash-Jones has just been expelled following a minor disturbance in a bookshop. Tommy Robinson is constantly involved in minor disturbances, that’s his MO. So what’s the point to let him join if he’ll be expelled at the first sign of trouble? Seems totally inconsistent.
Tacitus
I have no idea what happened in respect of Luke Nash Jones, but let me see if I can help you out in respect of Tommy Robinson, since you appear oblivious. It is those he exposes, challenges, or reports on who tend to attack him, both verbally and physically, not the other way around…perhaps you missed that? Or are you suggesting that we are no longer allowed to defend ourselves, just in case the facts are twisted by a liberal media, and a government so clearly desperate to persecute and harass TR, and paint him as the devil incarnate?
So you admit to not knowing what I am referring to but you firmly grab the wrong end of the stick with both hands anyway.
Tacitus, are you deliberately being obtuse…or just stupid? You alluded to Luke Nash Jones AND TR, and because I know nothing about the LNJ incident, I admitted the fact, and answered in respect of TR alone. I answered the question you asked, ie “Tommy Robinson is constantly involved in minor disturbances, that’s his MO. So what’s the point to let him join if he’ll be expelled at the first sign of trouble?” I’m sorry you are incapable of grasping this
No, I made a comparison between them, the point is the comparison, not either of them in particular. Can’t use the search bar and type in Luke Nash Jones? You could find in 5 seconds from several articles written here that he had been involved in a minor disturbance in a socialist bookshop. Whatever his motives, TR’s MO is to also to confront people, for example when he went into the offices of newspapers who had printed untrue stories to confront the ‘journalists’ who wrote the stories. I am not making any judgement about why LNJ or TR do these things, or whether they are right or wrong, simply that they are both confrontational in their approach. There is basically no difference between the MO of these events, but LNJ was expelled a week or so ago for this behaviour (by the way, if that was the only reason he was expelled then I think it is ridiculous, maybe there is more to it) but if that is UKIPs tolerance level for these kind of protests then TR will be out before his feet have touched the floor. The point is that UKIP can’t expel a LNJ on the one hand and bring in a TR on the other, it is totally illogical and inconsistent. Oh, and by the way, if you go and search Make Britain Great Again and see LNJ’s Youtube channel you’ll see photos of him and TR together as allies. You will probably like this channel and follow it, so you should thank me for the introduction.
Even the election of a new PC causes arguments within UKIP. What chance has the party got of ever getting a seat in parliament when members, or potential members, can’t sing from the same page? I, myself, am a Conservative, but was about to join UKIP in the hope the new PC would openly support TR. In doing so, UKIP’s priority of exiting the EU would almost have been in the bag if such a patriot was openly allowed to join. It’s times like this when ultra special exceptions should be made. TR has a huge following and they’re not all nutters as most UKippers seem to think.
Bah!
Hello Mr Johnson,.
Aren’t you embarrassed that your Conservatives are worse than Labour on immigration, PC, law and order, armed forces.etc etc ?
Bryan Tomlinson, I don’t think they are…I mean they are pathetic and anti patriotic in the way they deal with a whole load of issues, from Brexit to muslim rape gangs etc, but if they are this anti British, just imagine how much worse it would be under Labour. Corbyn goes further than simply repeating the lie that “Islam is a religion of peace”, repeated by Cameron, May, and Obama, in referring to Hezbollah and Hamas as “our friends”…more recently he speaks of teaching our children how horrible our white, British forebears were, because obviously they didn’t discover, develop, innovate, exhibit terrific resilience, courage, and sacrifice, fight for rights and equality, set the world alight with great music, art, and architecture, or invent almost every proiduct that today makes all of our lives more interesting, informed, more fun, and safer.
Then there’s Diane Abbott, an ugly, inept, anti white racist who, by her own admission, devotes most of her time as a British MP (God help us!) to helping her black and brown constituents to bring all their relatives into Britain, would be responsible for our police and security services! And what would about Naz Shah, the vile, female, muslim MP, who infamously retweeted that disgusting tweet from one of her equally vile, female, muslim followers, in which she told the young, white, English victims of one of the many muslim rape gangs, to “keep their mouths shut”…in the “interests of diversity”, of course. There was no question of these people being sacked from the party, giving us all a clear indication of the type of party Labour has become…racist (anti white) and anti British.
Hello Will,
Nope. No difference.
Both flooding the labour market and welfare state with millions of ponces and low wage slaves expecting the rest of us to subsidise their IOD and CBI buddies.
I’ve seen Tory corruption first hand. Cameron, Osborne, May, Hammond, Javid, Cleverley. All thick as thieves.
Seen Hammond help foreign competitors at the expense of local traders.
Heard Javid say he’d face down workers fighting a takeover of their industry by global tax evading shysters. Cleverley oinking support because funding for Tory HQ and jobs for the boys is more important than the livelihoods of tens of thousands of English families.
May was the worst Home Secretary in our history. She allowed in so many economic migrants that she was ‘promoted’ to PM.
The only good thing I can say about Osborne is………………he’s running The Substandard in to the ground so there’ll be less free papers littering the place up.
Cameron. Thanks for the referendum.
We’re caught in an Establishment pincer movement.
Red open the floodgates to gerrymander election wins.
Blue do the same to increase profits by suppressing wages, crushing working conditions and beating the working class down.
I’m wary of both Labour and Tories equally. In fact, if more people choose Corbyn over May, so be it.
That’s democracy.
Yeah, I think I’ll go along with that Bryan!
Mr Johnson…well said! It is worth noting that elements within UKIP are in danger of making the party into something akin to Cameron’s Conservative party, ie one which disparages and sneers and insults those it chooses not to engage with, or to take the time to understand. Everyone remembers Cameron’s infamous and inaccurate “fruitcakes, nutters, and closet racists” comment, and UKIPers, like the other mainstream parties, are now doing the same in respect of TR. Why are we not more curious, and angry, about why the media always refer to TR as “the former EDL leader”…since he left it 5 years ago, when will they simply call him what he is, an independent reporter/commentator, or whatever? Why are we not shouting at the tops of our lungs when at the same time we see the latest advert for the British Army, depicting a handful of British soldiers about to do something, when the muslim soldier decides to pray, and one of them says something like “Hold on lads” (because obviously everything has to stop if a muslim decides to pray!), and four coach loads of young, brave British soldiers have their mobile devices taken off them and are threatened by the Army, because they dared to enjoy the freedoms we are told they fight for, in meeting and chatting with TR quite by coincidence, at a motorway services area on the M1?
One only has to listen to TR being questioned to know he is not racist, but he is brave, and despite the threats he has received (many from muslims) against his young family, and the malicious persecution by the same police who show no similar zeal when dealing with muslim child rapists, he continues to do what he knows is right.
Hello Will,
Are you a UKIP member ?
I am a member Bryan, and been one for a few years. Been an activist for a while, a town Councillor for a year, that’s about it really
Well done Will.
I thought I’d ask before I got stuck in.
We’ve got similar views on TR so will be interesting to see what else we agree on.
You never know, we could encourage onlookers to join in.
Thanks Bryan. You never know, stranger things have happened! I remain struck how odd it is that just to desire the integrity of one’s own country, its independence, security, and defence of its culture, freedoms, and democracy, one is made to feel inexplicably racist or xenophobic by the massed ranks of the pro EU experiment lemmings?
@Will.
“one is made to feel inexplicably racist or xenophobic”.
How are you made to feel this way ?
Imagine life as a word game. Call it the Liberal Insult Game (LIG), if you wish. If someone tries to impose their words on you, just have a pocketful to throw back.
Surely, you repeating the words back to them makes them racist and xenophobic. Try it, they have no answer.
If they are real nutjobs determined to try to impose their warped views, question their mental health or question why they protect paedophiles.
It’s such a childish and pathetic way for people to interact with each other but I’d rather be obnoxious to the enemy than feel some sort of guilt or shame just because they say so.
Ah yes Bryan, there are many things I like to respond with, and most of them are rather rude…but deservedly so!
I went back to university to study a couple of years ago, and while there experienced an environment which made it feel right on and safe to hate on Brexit, or Trump (though he was only emerging on the political stage then of course), or UKIP…but not quite so pleasant if one opposed those views, as I did and do of course. Young children, whose greatest adventure has been to leave home for the first time, have such passionate beliefs on such things, yet it is fuelled by so little knowledge. Most saddening however, is an absolute lack of curiosity. Rather than considering challenging opposing views with questions or rational arguments, they immediately attack, or apply the usual meaningless labels. This is unfortunately facilitated at least, and encouraged, by predominantly left leaning cultural Marxists, aka the Guardian reading faculty, and together with my exploration of American education, particularly of left leaning campuses, it appears that at the time when they should be taught how to think (critical analysis, curiosity, debate, rationality, etc), they are being taught what to think.
On the insults etc, I always simply ask “Explain to me precisely how I am a racist”, or I might ask one or two basic questions about the EU experiment they are all so enamoured with…and they’re very quickly floundering! I actually attended an extracurricular event at university, which was billed as a discussion on the EU. The lecture theatre was full, mostly young people of course, and the three speakers were tutors. Each speaker was pro EU, so naturally I asked where is the discussion…since they were all on one side? The point is that this is typical of so many universities, where honest and open debate is not encouraged. I feel one mark of a better university is the presence of an active debating society…and not masked young cowards, shouting abuse, destroying property, or attacking people with whom they disagree, even if they’re too ignorant to know why!
I reckon the reason that pro-Establishment thugs are allowed to wear face coverings is that they are organised by “dark forces” within Special Branch and MI5.
We know they infiltrate groups such as environmentalists and the SWP. It’s their job.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/27/undercover-police-spied-on-more-than-1000-political-groups-in-uk
In this age of instant communication undercover state agitators would not last a day if the rest of us saw who they were.
What does amaze me is the reaction of supposedly mature and sensible adults when called naughty names by the infantile rentamob.
It’s not the kids you have to worry about as the vast majority will reach maturity and replace social inadequacy with a career, relationships and responsibilities.
I’m more worried by those supposedly on our own side standing like rabbits in the headlights at the slightest mention of having to fight for our culture, heritage and nationality.
Congratulations Kirsten – get your sleeves rolled up, have fun and give it your best shot. We will do all we can to support you.
Brexit as you say is our number one priority.
Long term – yes, get as many PPCs ready for an election being called on this occasion but we must strive to move towards having more qualified candidates in targetted seats rather than attempting to get as many candidates as possible. Same for council elections too – quality not numbers. Most Branches do not have enough money or activists to attempt to run candidates effectively in every Ward and simply exhaust activists and funds.
Of course none of this is possible without the executive, through all media methods and nationwide, honing and communicating policies that both meet with the principles of our Party and resonate with a sizeable number of the electorate to win seats.
The more candidates we have the more votes we receive.
The higher percentage of votes we receive the more coverage we receive on tv.
I agree with not contesting seats of vocal Brexit MPs but we cannot have a re-run of 2017.
There are 580-590 seats up for grabs. Each needs £500 deposit. The total cost of deposits will be around £300,000, the amount Gerrard collected in his previous whip round.
If each branch or HQ cannot raise this amount (some branches will have 2 or 3 deposits to find) we really should give it all up.
Bryan, if you had ever stood you would now that the minimum you need to spend is £1,200 not £500. You would also know that the party rarely has paid for deposits in the past, PPCs usually pay themselves unless it is a priority seat, so the branch has to raise the funds. You would also know that those branches that even exist (I guess we are down to 100 or so single constituency branches with 550 constituencies covered by multi-constituency branches) have no money and even if they have money they don’t want to blow it all on candidates with no hope of winning. It is pointless to enter the race unless you can afford some publicity, the Royal Mail address, Facebook advertising, etc. This is the difference in committtment required in PPC versus council elections. I paid the whole lot myself, got hammered, and a single thank you email from someone I despised (fake pilot). With UKIP at rock bottom in polls (4% today) there is no point in standing unless you have money to burn.
36794….. I canvassed with a very good candidate in London in 2017 against a sitting Labour MP. 36794 was the Labour majority. UKIP dropped – 5.6% to 1.9% from 2015 and of course the deposit was lost. Total expenditure was north of £2000.
It’s not worth the effort the money or the shoe leather.
Contrary to what some believe, the amount of airtime and PPB’s UKIP will get does not depend on how many candidates we put up, but on CURRENT opinion polling and past (2017 / 2018 ) election performance.
Also, there is no way UKIP can fully support 600 plus viable candidates out of membership of 20000.
Don’t chuck the money down the drain.
ONLY 10.
@ Kev + Tacitus.
You wouldn’t believe who my MP is. So awful I can’t write their name.
Rock solid safe seat. Nurtured electorate receiving treats for votes. Working Mans Club now a religious centre. Another murder half a mile away. Drive-by outside Lidl. Kwality.
UKIP haven’t a chance but should do 5%. Deposit returned. If similar parties also stand, kiss your deposit goodbye.
Turn up where invited. Speak when asked. Get members to write to papers. Set up new social media. Website if you’re lucky. Word will get round.
I believe that UKIP via EFD get a postal leaflet out. Who knows what will arrive from HQ.
I personally would not waste my money leafletting in such a safe seat. As you say, money down the drain.
I’m droning on here but you can’t win anything on such negativity. Not ten seats and not one seat.
When people turn up here looking for answers, it might be nice to offer a bit of positivity to encourage them to join in.
As I said. £500 to get on the ballot sheet. Give decent people a decent option.
For Christ’s sake, cheer up.
£500 to have your name on the ballot sheet which is returned if 5% vote for you.
https://metro.co.uk/2017/06/08/how-much-does-it-cost-to-stand-as-an-mp-and-who-can-become-one-6694716/
You see that’s the difference between someone googling the rules and someone who has done it. Sure £500 is the deposit, which you can kiss goodbye and will have to pay yourself, but you then have to promote yourself or else be a pure paper candidate. To do the Royal Mail address means postage is free but 30,000 leaflets will cost £700 -£800. That’s the minimum amount of promotion. But in all honesty why bother, at 4% in national polls nothing you do locally will make any difference unless you have a 10 year track record campaigning in the constituency.
I’m always ready to listen to you Bryan. Maybe you have a point and maybe I’m too negative.
Willing to chat about this. We do have to fight though.
Kev.
If you have money to burn up to you. But don’t expect thanks from head office either. They just need to get people to stand to make them look good, but once you’ve stood then that’s it, you’ll never hear from them again, until the next election they’ll ask you if you feel like banging your head against a wall again. If you aren’t a big donor you are just cannon fodder that hopefully can pay for himself and not say anything stupid. At least GB now has an interim manifesto, at the last GE we were all left stranded like idiots as our manifesto didn’t get launched until 5 days before voting! As Kev says, unless the national polls are around 15% there really is very little you can do locally as a candidate to affect the result. Just putting your name on a ballot paper so that 1,000 people can register a protest vote would be fine if you didn’t have to put your hand in your own pocket to fund it.
@Tacitus and Kev.
There was no REPLY button at the bottom of your next comment so thought it fair to answer here.
I reckon you’re just hitting a low patch. Some of your comments during the TR debate have shown us a side of you that was best kept hidden.
Now we have Englishmen’s careers at risk because they had a selfie with an Englishman in a service station in England.
Corbyn can shake hands with Gerry Adams and May can grovel to Saudi Princes but soldiers are under investigation because of a photo.
This happens because people are afraid of losing “social respectability” and conformity is safe.
Too many Ruperts on here.
It’s never too late to make amends.
Have you signed the TR Soldier X petition doing the rounds ?
140,000 signatures in 24 hours. Numbers we can only dream of.
Kirstan, congratulations on your appointment as Party Chairman.
Your mention of meeting Ralph Gay brings back many memories and your description of him is absolutely correct. He was indeed a founder member and if my memory is correct his membership number was 57 hence another nickname of Heinz! I remember being at an event to celebrate an anniversary of his membership, there was a presentation and the speaker said ‘you can be a grumpy old sod Ralph’ to which he replied ‘I accept that’. Great hilarity from all present.
I went to his funeral at Exeter Crematorium, we had to park on the grass, the doors at the back were wide open and there was standing several rows deep outside.
We owe a great debt to Ralph and indeed all the staff at Lexdrum for all the work they do for the Party.
UKIP is dead as a campaigning force. For example, Pimlico Plumbers has posted ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ advertising all over London. We should be getting UKIP members complaining en masse to the Advertising Standards Agency by sending them a link and telling them what to say. They cannot ignore 1,000 complaints. But no, nothing, not a peep. Drives me absolutely mad, we never seem to do anything.
Some of us saw that advert and rang the emergency rip off service with a ‘bollocks to Pimlico plumbers’ message. Just saying.
PS If anyone else should feel inclined to invest a few moments to respond to the cowboy plumber of pimlico the number is 14102079288888. You can with-hold your number by dialing 141. It is a 24 hour line staffed by professionals ready to listen (acording to their website)
Thanks Matt!
I agree wholeheartedly, but it’s not going to get any better with this woman in charge. I attempted to stand in County Council elections a couple of years ago…we couldn’t win in that seat, but we had nobody standing, and the message for volunteers went out. This woman was the vetting person, and told me that I’d have to remove some anti islam posts on my facebook page. I pointed out that non incited violence of hate, and merely exposed so much done in the name of islam, that the media ignore…but offered to remove any that did, if she could just tell me which ones she was referring to. She failed to reply to me (I should say that I am a paid up UKIP member), so I then asked precisely how many I was expected to remove…again, she ignored me. She is a politically-correct waste of space, and can keep her stupid smile for the violent islam she seeks to protect
Why are you protesting to the person in control of vetting for applying the rules? Most of UKIP’s problems are caused through ill considered frankly racist or misogynist, plain bonkers comments in the media. Like yours.
@kevin Exactly!
Kiss @kevin’s a**e all you want Jake, doesn’t mean he’s right
Not a free speech fan then Kev ?
Hi Bryan. I am, as you well know, but I don’t like people new to this site – provocateurs- throwing stuff at the new chairman with no evidence.
It’s just not fair.
Explain precisely how my comment is “racist or misogynist” or “plain bonkers” you arrogant idiot? I’ll wait, while you attempt to twist something that appears to make your dumb comment seem rational. Oh, and just to help your deluded little mind, islam is not a country, and muslim is not a race, so work extra hard on justifying your inference of racism
Oh dear. You are on the list.
I know I`m a bit late on this spat, but I have only just read it and therefore apologise for the intervention, but I do agree with Kevin and Jake in this case “Rules are Rules”, I am also a firm believer in” rules are meant to be broken” but not in this case.
If my memory serves me right, back in 2012 County Council elections in Lincolnshire UKIP came second and were to form the official “opposition”, unfortunately they didn`t because UKIP “fell out” internally and the initial leader Paine or Caine (?) was ousted and he and 4/5 others formed a rump organisation and were eventually expelled from the party and thus began the demise of UKIP from a prominent position in the county to ineffective also rans.
I believe the main reason for the split was personal aggrandisement, but if I remember correctly there was also the stink of a police investigation into anti Islamic comments which were said to be in Paine or Caine`s (?) office in posters shown on his video or leaflets or face book or something and he had been told to take them down and maybe didn`t.
.
For this reason I would think UKIP HO learned a valuable lesson and were thus insistent that “rules are rules” in this type of case be applied by their candidate assessing officer willy nilly of any excuses or pleas for leniency offered by a candidate
Roger Turner, perhaps you should try re-reading my post, since it was not only about UKIP’s attack on free speech (particularly since it is not illegal to criticise or mock islam, even if many muslims might prefer it to be – hence the treatment of our brave young soldiers for daring to speak to TR – and that none of my posts were inciting violence or hate, merely re-posting news feeds and occasionally adding comments), it was also about the fact that having told me I’d have to remove some posts, she ignored my requests for her to indicate which ones, how many, etc. That is not professional, not the way a member and activist of any party should be treated, and not the way to treat someone prepared to stand in a seat without UKIP representation.
I would also add UKIP could make a stand against the special treatment afforded to hyper-sensitive muslims, instead of simply succumbing to police bullying. After all, if one is only telling the truth, and discussing real events, like the mass rape of young, English, non muslim girls by organised, all muslim rape gangs, what precisely is wrong with that? Is it more important that UKIP as a party, concern itself more with fake accusations the left always employ, like “racists” or “islamophobes”, or with fighting to make the voices of those thousands of destroyed young English girls heard? It really is a no brainer…unless you’re the police, the courts, the government, or Jeremy Corbyn apparently!
What do you mean “no evidence” Kevin…I just related what happened to me! What do you require then, a secret tape recording…a sworn declaration by MI5? I believe I still have the emails, but since she was too ignorant to reply, you will probably accuse me of having simply removed her replies!
You know Will, it isn’t all about you. How many vetting officers do you think UKIP has, 100? Nope, I would say 2-3 maximum. And they have to deal with hundreds of cases. They have to go back and check through the social media to protect the party from all kinds of people including infiltrators from other parties. Each case takes up a huge amount of their time. So excuse them if they don’t have time to argue the fine detail of your posts, they have hundreds of other people to vet and everyone is screaming for their papers to be completed so they can start campaigning. Its not like she was picking on you, unfortunately many UKIP candidates have dodgy social media posts so ALL have to be checked carefully. Would hope you could understand this rather than think it is a vendetta against you.
Tacitus, perhaps you’d care to show us where I have implied or suggested this was any kind of “vendetta” against me? No, I didn’t think so, because I haven’t. I am well aware that UKIP is unlikely to have many people vetting potential candidates but, contrary to something you appear to have simply made up, I was not “arguing” with her, merely asking for clarification that UKIP is now a party with no desire to protect free speech…since my posts (as I have said already) were not inciting hate or violence…merely re-posting events and incidents that the mainstream media consistently fail to cover. She had merely asked that I remove “some of my posts”, but without knowing which ones, was I expected to remove every post I ever made? I sought clarification, not an argument, and despite your attempts to make it seem otherwise, I would say that is pretty reasonable.
On a tangent to that, why are we so hung up on treating the most barbaric, intolerant, and violent ideology in the world, so sensitively? We don’t afford such special treatment to Christians or Jews, who do not have significant elements threatening to murder anyone criticising or mocking them, raping non muslim, young English girls, ramming cars into innocent pedestrians, stabbing people to death, or blowing people up.
Congratulations Kirsten, I hope you have oodles and oodles of stamina and will carry on the good work Tony began by engaging with the Party grassroots. Great start – Prioritise Brexit is certainly what I am hearing from my members! As for our friend Mr Robinson, at least in my area, it’s big thumbs down re membership, tempered with support for what he is trying to acheive and any unjust treatment by the courts and cops. (one lone hand at a recent Surrey branch meeting when the speaker asked for a show) My response was to remind those present about the offences which saw Ashley Moat, Janice Atkinson and Amjad Bashir ousted as UKIP MEPs (not that their crimes ever barred them from Brussels) then to compare Tommy’s rap sheet (only those unassociated with the attempt to highlight the criminal rape and drug gangs, to wit – passport fraud, mortgage fraud.)
The shields awarded at the recent gala dinner to Gerard, Nigel, Hugh and other members at the inaugural meeting of UKIP in 1993 bore, if I am correct, the words SOVEREIGNTY, LIBERTY, PROSPERITY. In the car park post meeting – where else- Russell Hicks, Freddy Vaccha and I noted that this says it all for topic headings in our literature and UKIP’s essential priorities.
SOVEREIGNTY: That Brexit priority
LIBERTY: Free speech, small government, breaking the back of cultural Marxism ( I know you have been working for David Kurten AM)
PROSPERITY: ‘It’s the economy stupid’ -innit? When did UKIP last emphasise the economic benefits of our freedom from the EU properly? Make more use of our economics spokesman please. Catherine should have a press release everday on the economic issue de jour – make sure Chris Hicks actions this.
Hello Helena,
I notice ypur continued interest in TR’s criminal record.
As we are fellow Kippers can I ask if you’ve ever committed a crime ?
It’s important that we all trust each other during our fight for Brexit.
Ooh – Spon was so spot on. Before they did it online I used to cringe with embarrassment when respectable pillars of society of a certain age crept up to me with their vetting forms and asked if getting caught driving underage and other teenage era collar feels from Old Bill would bar them from standing as local election candidates. No of course it didn’t and they really shouldn’t have to have raised that AND passed it by their branch chairman. (at least it’s private between them & HQ now) Yep, done my speed awareness, youthful graffiti (writing bull s**t in pink paint over Jim Callaghan’s face on a 1979 election poster (in a shopping centre, not someone’s garden) for which I only just didn’t get caught. Passed 2 Bobbies walking towards said centre as I left it.
I’ll leave this to someone else – Brussels accepts any old fraudster or lag as an MEP, what a surprise but what are our UK rules re local council? MP? AM? PCC? Mayor?
I would be delighted to meet Tommy and talk about the vile criminal rape gangs, I am sure I will find him thoughtful and informed. Don’t shoot the messenger though, I was only reporting the result of an ad hoc show of hands, maybe in Telford or Rotherham it would be different. And I’ll say this until my face is as blue as a policeman’s helmet – proposing Tommy as Immigration spokesman is lunacy (hence comment about dodgy MEPs) but do we, or our country really want him hidden away stuffing envelopes as a bog standard member? Isn’t the best option to keep our prophet crying in the wilderness and support his work, call out his mistreatment, when appropriate?
absolutely
Thank you for your reply Helena.
What worries me is your underage driving which means you had no insurance.
Who was more dangerous, TR’s dodgy mortgage fraud conviction, state oppression if you prefer, versus your underage driving with no insurance ?
Driving with no insurance while underage should lead to expulsion from UKIP.
I’ve just done an ad-hoc show of hands at the house I’m visiting and all 6 of them agree with me.
Off you go.
Did you read that properly? It was someone standing for local election, usual silly lad stuff. Yours truly was a very nervous driver and didn’t pass my test until I was 33. What 16 year old boys get up to and how it affects their subsequent fitness for office as mature adults goes back to the heart of the Kavanaugh allegations last week!
I was the one with the mini paint pot and a few gins inside me on a Saturday night, itching to cast my vote for Maggie after the winter of discontent.
What do you mean “it goes to the heart of the Kavanaugh allegations last week”? A proven liar, practised (literally) in the art of deceit, puts on a political stunt on behalf of the rabid democrats, with absolutely no proof or corroboration, and suddenly we’re supposed to believe Kavanaugh is (or was) something he clearly is not?
I got the point you were making, but not the bad example you chose.
Ford was involved in some very dubious research I understand – pretty frightening implications. Funded by Soros to try to screw over Trump.
That’s the point though isn’t it? A 15 year old with a 17 year old boy? Unless there was later evidence that he molested women at 27, 37, etc and such behaviour was therefore a normal part of his character, it should never have got that far.
Soros & chums push at an open door sometimes
Thank you for your reply Helena, and while I agree with your point, I think you missed mine. What I was saying was that absolutely nothing happened, period. There has been no evidence of anything at all having happened in respect of Kavanaugh, with or without any subsequent incidents. Forgive me if I’m missing something here!
It’s all about the economy and the standard of living. UKIP can only have any influence with Westminster MPs, and even a couple , in a hung parliament , will make a difference.
100 percent of effort should be aimed at that. However until and unless the economy is the prime focus of the party it cannot compete with the Tories or Labour . UKIP will not win a single seat unless priorities change.
The country is getting into a mess over Brexit and the economy. Side issues mean little when the chips are down.
There is little time left to get ready for an election. Probably less than 3 months.
Helena Was Amjad Bashir ‘ousted’ from the Party or did he just up sticks?
Helena, I am curious, why does Redvers never mention Tommy Robinson in any of his tweets, and barely mention Gerard? Is this indicative of the split we face? If you read his twitter feed it is like a time warp and Nigel is still party leader.
No – don’t find it a time warp. Is it obligatory now to mention Tommy? I have stewardship of UKIP Surrey’s twitter and my own. I have to behave responsibly with both, as does Redvers with his.
Just flicked through both feeds, I don’t mention TR much either although I do RT a lot of Gerard’s. One mention of TR & the absolutely outrageous attitude to the trainee soldiers having their picture taken with him and a comment that TR was holding a poster for Melanie Shaw when he was in court the other week. I mention Ms Shaw a lot more than TR – I have good reasons
Congratulations, and I fully agree with your position above, although whether or not it fits with GB’s position (he is the one who raised this after all) is another matter. However, I think you outline too many things on your to-do list, if I were you I would focus on Brexit and identify some specific goals. E.g. Leave.EU have raised money to places adverts against remainer tories sitting in leave seats and are recruiting people to join the tories and deselect. Although we can’t do that, we need some similar direct action, not going back to the old thing about doing local street stalls, etc as the branch network is so weakened. We need national campaigns that get national media attention. If you can highlight a specific campaign with actions (i.e. a campaign is not a slogan like ‘Out Now’, it is actions like targeting certain MPs) then I am sure the money will come. Also, on longer-term things like local elections to be honest a lot of people are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what kind of party this will become, so I personally think spending a lot of time looking for candidates is putting the cart before the horse.
Campaigning entails writing letters (polite) to local newspapers on local issues to raise the profile of UKIP, approaching or phoning in to local radio, and participating as widely as possible in local events. It is much more than sporadic littering of the the locality with leaflets.
One can only marvel how after 25 years the party still has little training or guidance on campaigning.
In the present circumstances Stout, they don`t know you are there, they can`t for the life of them remember the EU is bad for you never mind the reasons we presented for leaving and a leaflet now in my opinion is nothing to do with specific campaigning, but a necessary means of reintroducing us and they should also be an element of recruitment.
Some will read them, many will go in the bin.
But we do have to realise for 94% of the population UKIP doesn`t exist.
Leaflets are a necessary adjunct to presence in the market place and I also like the idea of the advertising lorries – but they have to be all over the country and regular
The intial message should be
“UKIP is BACK” –
“HERE TO LOOK AFTER THE INTERESTS OF ALL THE GRASS ROOTERS WHO VOTED FOR BREXIT”
We were on ballot papers in the last GE and in local elections last May. No-one wants to vote for us. Why would they? After Wolf, Nuttall et all we became a party of clowns. In any case, we are seen as a single issue party, Brexit, a process we will not influence between now and March.
I merely make the point that campaigning is more than leaflets.
http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers/cover-1339 😛
It is also about more than having a new female chair, who as vetting officer, stopped UKIPpers volunteering to stand for County Council seats, if they had unfavourable posts about islam on their social media accounts! So UKIP, just like the British Army apparently, have to say only nice things about islam, the source of most of the hate, intolerance, and violence in the world today? If that’s Kirsten’s notion of defending fundamental British values, it certainly isn’t mine
One of the most successful and cheapest ( Commercial ) campaigns I’ve ever run, was to saturate the London underground trains with those 15 x 9 aprox.cards.At the end of a fortnight everyone in London knew them by heart. And of course it spread naturally nationally. It was a pity the product was rubbish.
You are not wrong there. I requested that training along these lines be provided by the SE Communications Director, and didn’t even get a reply to my e-mail, so that fell on deaf ears. So much needs to be improved in UKIP, but there seems to be a general lack of interest and cohesion.
Winning seats to Westminster from marginal Remainers (of what ever party) should be the number one priority.
UKIP councillors are not going to make a jot of difference and the time wasted campaigning depresses activists when they see about 80 votes as the ballot papers are counted.
UKIP councillors also have a tendency to defect – a bit like our MEP’s – when it suits them.
Don’t bother trying to herd cats.
I would spend that 30k on professional media training for a few (10) prospective Westminster candidates . I don’t mean in- house, I mean London professionals. Otherwise foot-in-mouth disease will scupper us yet again.
A sensible goal would be 2 Westminster seats out of that 10 at an election. Arithmetic – the Swingometer- makes more than that unrealistic.
If you want a name of a company and a contact that does just this Viv has my e-mail.
Seems like a plan.
Hello Tacitus,
We could get maximum exposure for minimal cost by turning up with UKIP banners and flags at all Leave Means Leave and Better Off Out events.
We could have a stall and attract new members and supporters.
Our Brexit slogans should emphasise that you cannot vote for pressure groups so UKIP are the only choice for 17.4 million Leavers.
Well, that’s Bryan’s day ruined 😉
Good luck, Kirstan, in an often impossible job, and enjoy chairing your first nec/herding cats session!
I’m fine Spon.
Kirsten has behaved impeccably by seeing the problem, not taking sides and explaining that Brexit takes priority now with an olive leaf offered for future change.
That’s the way to do it.
You’ll notice when I don’t agree it is because of the ridiculous and morally corrupt excuses that no members of a radical anti-Establishment should hide behind.