UKIP second in Eastleigh...anyone from Eastleigh care to comment?

There have been some puppets on the radio this morning saying that the UKIP vote was an anti-politics vote. That is how they view the democratic will of the people who turned out at polling stations to make their voice heard.

It is not anti-politics, it is anti-puppet.

Is my Indian friend racist for considering voting UKIP?

It doesn't make Eastleigh look good does it.

Mind you, I wouldn't put it past people to do the same stupid thing if we had an election in my town.

I always imagined UKIP voters to be the babyboomers who after a couple of drinks down the golf/cricket/rugby/football club could solve all the nations ills.

But I have been talking to my teenagers who will all vote in 2015 and at the moment UKIP seems the best option to them. I have always been a labour voter and DH a wavering tory.

I am a bit surprised by my DS views. They are a product of the times and area they grew up in and people are pissed off. They are not racist and their friends from asian backgrounds have similar views apparently.

Poorish middle England if anyone cares. Young people seem to hate the Condems......Tuition fees and EMA mainly. Kids who got EMA around here used it for bus fares not driving lessons.

The problem is our democracy does not give us proportional representation because teh yah-booers won't give us real PR. They pretend that voters at election time vote how they really feel, whereas by-elections are not their true wishes. But at general election time, people who don't want New Labour are often forced to vote Tory just to keep New Labour out, but that doesn't mean that they really agree with the Tories, just that they disagree with New Labour.

One day, if we are lucky, we may get a real PR system that reflects the real wishes of the people, which is what democracy is all about. That is why protest votes are good for democracy, because they highlight the hypocrisy of the yah-booers who claim that they reflect the people's wishes.

I accept that the LibDems might eell be very good locally. ....and I also think people vote differently in local elections than they might if it was going to influence a Government. ...as in who will govern parliament.

Agree with claig....people are fed up with yah boo politics.

Agree, Jake. It would have been a far better message for UKIP to win their first seat. People are fed up with all the puppets and they want change.
Farage was just on radio and said that a poll showed that 25% of UKIP's vote in Eastleigh was from voters who had not voted in last few elections i.e. they are reengaging teh disaffected and bringing in new voters and young voters. It is a sign that democracy is alive and well and that people are fed up of the puppets and their yah-boo games.

LibDem have actually been quite good as in local govt which is why people voted for them, very little to do with National politics

Frankly I think it shows that people don't know who in the hell to vote for. I think Cameron is going to get his arse kicked in the local elections come May but Labour will do badly too as they are not a credible opposition. I am more appalled that so many voted LibDem who are nothing but puppets now and sold all their policies down the river to get a chance if being in Government....except they are not really.

It is not good news for Cameron. The Tory voters in Eastleigh who defected to UKIP are sending a message that the Tories can't take their votes for granted. They need to start appealing to the people. I think the message will be much louder in the May local elections - maybe not up North, but definitely down South.

It shows that the voters of Eastleigh aren't stupid.

Sequins, please stop reading the Guardian, it's not good for you.

UKIP aren't a racist party. They are a protest party and they are likely to do very well in the May council elections.

'Can't come home with current political situation....how depressing'

What is depressing about voters who placed Labour 4th in the worst economic crisis since the 1930s? The voters of Eastleigh are ordinary people who don't want Labour and who voted UKIP as a protest against Tweedledee and Tweedledum (New Labour).