UK Independence Party: Difference between revisions

| colorcode = {{party color|UK Independence Party}}

| abbreviation = UKIP

| leader3_title = Chairman

| leader3_name = Ben Walker

| leader5_title = Treasurer

| leader5_name = Ian Garbutt<ref name="ukip"/>

| founder = [[Alan Sked]]

| dissolution =

| predecessor = [[Anti-Federalist League]]

| membership = {{decrease}} 3,888<ref name="31 December 2020 membership">{{cite web |title=United Kingdom Independence Party Limited (a company limited by guarantee) report and accounts 31 December 2020 |url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Api/Accounts/Documents/23513 |website=Electoral Commission |date=31 December 2020 |access-date=19 October 2021}}</ref>

| ideology = <!-- Please do NOT add "Libertarianism" here, even if sourced. Reliable sources dispute whether UKIP is actually libertarian. Consensus should be achieved on the talk page before it is added. -->{{ubl|class=nowrap|

| national =

| international =

| website = {{URL|ukip.org}}

| country = the United Kingdom

}}

 

 

UKIP originated as the [[Anti-Federalist League]], a [[single-issue]] Eurosceptic party established in London by [[Alan Sked]] in 1991. It was renamed ''UKIP'' in 1993, but its growth remained slow. It was largely eclipsed by the Eurosceptic [[Referendum Party]] until the latter's 1997 dissolution. In 1997, Sked was ousted by a faction led by Farage, who became the party's preeminent figure. In 2006, Farage officially became leader and, under his direction, the party adopted a wider policy platform and capitalised on concerns about rising immigration, in particular among the [[white British]] working class. This resulted in significant breakthroughs at the [[2013 United Kingdom local elections|2013 local elections]], [[2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2014 European parliamentary elections]], and [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]]. After the UK voted to [[Brexit|leave the EU]] in the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|2016 Brexit referendum]], Farage stepped down as UKIP leader, later joining the [[Brexit Party]]. UKIP subsequently saw its vote share and membership heavily decline, losing almost all of its elected representatives amid much internal instability and a drift toward a [[far-right]], anti-Islam message.

After a period as acting leader, Hamilton was elected as leader in October 2021, receiving 498 votes of 631 cast (78.9%) against challenger John Poynton.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukip.org/elections-2021|title=2021 NEC and Leadership Election – The Results!|publisher=UKIP|access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref><ref name=hamilton>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58968868|work=BBC News|title=UKIP: Ex-Conservative minister Neil Hamilton elected party leader|date=19 October 2021}}</ref> In April 2023, the party removed a longstanding ban of current or former members of far-right groups and parties – including the [[British National Party]] (BNP) – from joining the party, and replaced it with a ban of members of several [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]], left-wing, and environmentalist groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Withers |first=Matt |date=2023-06-22 |title=How Ukip came crashing down to earth |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/how-ukip-came-crashing-down-to-earth/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=The New European |language=en-GB}}</ref> In the [[2023 United Kingdom local elections|May 2023 local elections]], it lost all of its remaining council seats leaving the party without representation at any level.<ref name="localcouncil">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2023/england/results|title=Local election results 2023 in England|website=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ukip-neil-hamilton-richard-tice-bournemouth-christchurch-b2333710.html|title=Ukip loses all six seats in local elections|date=6 May 2023|website=The Independent}}</ref>

 

 

==Ideology and policies==

UKIP has always had the politics of [[national identity]] at its core.{{sfn|Hayton|2016|p=400}} The party is nationalist, and its "basic claim—that the highest priority for the British polity is to assure that it is fully governed by the national state—is a nationalist one."{{sfn|Dye|2015|p=11}} The party describes its position as being that of [[civic nationalism]], and in its manifesto explicitly rejects [[ethnic nationalism]] by encouraging support from Britons of all ethnicities and religions.{{sfnm|1a1=Ford|1a2=Goodwin|1y=2014|1p=7|2a1=Mycock|2a2=Hayton|2y=2014|2p=264}} Rejecting claims that it is racist, both Sked and later Farage described UKIP as a "non-racist, non-sectarian party".{{sfnm|1a1=Ford|1a2=Goodwin|1y=2014|1p=29|2a1=Etheridge|2y=2014|2p=15}} In UKIP's literature, the party has placed an emphasis on "restoring Britishness" and counteracting what it sees as a "serious existential crisis" exhibited by the "[[Islamification]]" of Britain, the "pseudo-nationalisms" of [[Wales]], [[Scotland]], and Ireland, and the multicultural and [[Supranational union|supranational]] policies promoted by "the cultural left", describing its own stance as being "unashamedly unicultural".{{sfn|Mycock|Hayton|2014|p=264}} It has been suggested that this attitude compromises the party's claim that its form of [[British nationalism]] is civic and inclusive.{{sfn|Mycock|Hayton|2014|p=264}}

 

 

UKIP has emphasised the need to correct what it perceives as the United Kingdom's imbalance against England resulting from the "[[West Lothian question]]" and the [[Barnett formula]].{{sfn|Mycock|Hayton|2014|p=265}} The party has mobilised [[English nationalist]] sentiment brought on by English concerns following the devolution within the UK and the rise of Welsh and Scottish nationalisms.{{sfnm|1a1=Reed|1y=2016|1p=228|2a1=Hayton|2y=2016|2p=405|3a1=Goodwin|3a2=Milazzo|3y=2015|3p=5}} The party initially opposed [[federalism]] in the UK,{{sfn|Hayton|2016|p=401}} criticising the establishment of the [[Welsh Assembly]] and [[Scottish Parliament]].{{sfn|Abedi|Lundberg|2009|p=75}} However, in September 2011 Farage and the NEC announced their support for the establishment of an [[English Parliament]] to accompany the other devolved governments.{{sfn|Mycock|Hayton|2014|p=265}} In its 2015 manifesto, it promised to make [[St. George's Day]] and [[St. David's Day]] [[bank holiday]]s in England and Wales, respectively.{{sfn|Hayton|2016|p=403}} Similarly, UKIP's 2017 manifesto pledged to declare 23 June British Independence Day and observe it annually as a [[Public holiday|national holiday]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/elections/general-election-2017/manifestos/ukip-manifesto-we-read-it-so-you-dont-have-to/ |title=Ukip Manifesto: We Read It So You Don't Have To |website=[[LBC]] |date=26 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628140524/http://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/elections/general-election-2017/manifestos/ukip-manifesto-we-read-it-so-you-dont-have-to/ |archive-date=28 June 2017 }}<br /> {{cite news |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/general-election-2017/84971/ukip-manifesto-2017-paul-nuttalls-key-policies/ |title=Ukip manifesto 2017: Paul Nuttall's key policies |work=[[The Week]] |date=7 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614065605/http://www.theweek.co.uk/general-election-2017/84971/ukip-manifesto-2017-paul-nuttalls-key-policies |archive-date=14 June 2017 }}<br />– {{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/ukip-manifesto-general-election-2017-key-points-policies-summary/ |title=Ukip manifesto for General Election 2017: Key points, policies and summary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=7 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612211904/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/ukip-manifesto-general-election-2017-key-points-policies-summary/ |archive-date=12 June 2017 }}</ref>

[[File:Starcross , The Strand, UKIP Poster and Starcross Sign - geograph.org.uk - 1345072.jpg|thumb|left|UKIP placard on the side of the road in [[Starcross]], Devon, declaring: "Say NO to European Union"]]

 

 

UKIP has placed great emphasis on the issue of immigration to the UK,{{sfnm|1a1=Lynch|1a2=Whitaker|1a3=Loomes|1y=2012|1p=754|2a1=Tournier-Sol|2y=2015|2p=146}} and in 2013 Farage described it as "the biggest single issue facing this party".{{sfn|Tournier-Sol|2015|p=146}} UKIP attributes British membership of the EU as the core cause of immigration to the UK, citing the Union's open-border policies as the reason why large numbers of East European migrants have moved to Britain.{{sfn|Tournier-Sol|2015|p=146}} On their campaign billboards, UKIP have presented EU migrants as a source of crime, as well as a pressure on housing, the welfare state, and the health service.{{sfn|Goodwin|Milazzo|2015|p=42}} Farage has emphasised not only the economic impact of migration but also the public anxieties regarding the cultural changes brought by immigration.{{sfn|Goodwin|Milazzo|2015|p=42}} In its 2009 electoral manifesto, UKIP proposed a five-year ban on any migrants coming to the UK.{{sfn|Deacon|Wring|2016|p=173}} By 2015, it had modified this to the view that the five-year ban should apply only to unskilled migrants.{{sfn|Goodwin|Milazzo|2015|p=231}} To regulate the arrival of skilled migrants, it called for the UK to adopt a points-based system akin to that employed by Australia.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1a2=Milazzo|1y=2015|1pp=172, 231|2a1=Heywood|2y=2015|2p=139}} It advocated the establishment of a watchdog to help curb immigration, and bring the levels of net annual immigration down from the hundreds of thousands to between 20,000 and 50,000, which was the average level in the UK between 1950 and 2000.{{sfn|Goodwin|Milazzo|2015|p=231}} UKIP calls for all immigrants to require compulsory health insurance,{{sfn|Goodwin|Milazzo|2015|p=231}} and proposes that migrants be barred from claiming any state benefits until they had been resident in the UK for at least five years.{{sfn|Deacon|Wring|2016|p=183}}

| member_of =

| image =

| deputy = Nick Tenconi

| residence =

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! style="background:{{party color|UK Independence Party}}; color:white;" | 7

|-

| colspan="5"|''[[Nigel Farage]] was acting leader during this interim''

|-

! style="background:{{party color|UK Independence Party}}; color:white; | 14

|}

 

bar:Vachha

bar:Hamilton

 

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bar: Perry

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|-

! [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]]

| style="text-align:center;"|TBD

| style="text-align:center;"| {{Composition bar|0|650|hex={{party color|UK Independence Party}}}} {{steady}}

|}

 

==External links==

* {{official website}}

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