If UKIP are so terrible, why did they win so much?

[balloondoggy]

I didn't vote UKIP - I voted for my local Christians. However, if I were to purely read the comments on Mumsnet and the comments on Facebook re UKIP, I would have thought they would come last; yet they didn't. Why? Are there so many of us on here that are so different from (clearly) the majority?

[GatoradeMeBitch]

Because all the 'Send them scary forriners back where they came from!!' lot made sure to vote.

[Pixel]

Well this SN communities thing sounds fantastic to me. The biggest fear of my life is that after I'm gone my ds will be abandoned to so-called 'care in the community' in other words being more or less left to fend for himself while at the mercy of every nasty bit of work in our society.
I bet if you asked any of the people who used to work at the Remploy factories (still mostly unemployed btw) if they would like to go back to their 'segregated' community they would be on their knees begging.

[calmet]

There should be a range of options. UKIP are offering segregated communities as the only one.

[Pixel]

I agree with the point someone was making about levels of self-employment looking good on paper. A couple of years ago I was working as an outworker for a printing company. They only wanted me as a 'casual worker' (presumably because otherwise I might then have some rights or something) so I called the tax people who advised me to register as self-employed. I was nothing of the sort of course but there was no other way for me to keep everything above board.

[Pixel]

Calmet, so it says here on MN, I've not seen mention of it anywhere else.

[calmet]

Quite a number of MNers have read UKIP's policy documents. Most people don't.

[TravellingToad]

Calmet YES I agree with all that. Don't be so bloody patronising, surely you understand that people have different ideas? It's a democracy. I don't feign shock at whatever crazy (IMO) presumably left wing things you believe in.

[TravellingToad]

And the thing that you'll find most surprising is a LOT of people think their policies are good. As shown at the secret ballot polls. They just don't admit on MN because of the bullying that's rife from people like you, and the name calling.

[diggerdigsdogs]

My dad voted Ukip.

He's a logical, intelligent, university educated man who worked very hard, made money and retired very early (40s). He joined the local conservative party recently but quit because of how complacent and uninterested they were.

He firmly believes that luck has nothing to do with how you get on in life. Those who work hard do well, those who don't are just skivers. Ukip speaks to this belief in his opinion.

It's really dangerous to assume that only the thick and uneducated vote ukip.

As a side point there is no party that speaks to me any more either (though I would never vote Ukip).

[mimishimmi]

I agree with Sarinka. My concern is that immigrants will cop the physical brunt of the blame instead of those who designed the policies to disenfranchise and impoverish vast swathes of their fellow Europeans. The same sort of people that practically killed off half of Europe before doing so and made a killing from it...

[tabulahrasa]

Pixel - there are links to their policies all the way through this thread, that's where people are getting the stuff about the congregate communities instead of other support, if it was about adding to and improving support I wouldn't have an issue with it.

Toad - if you agree with them, fine, you're allowed to, obviously, lol. But, that isn't what most UKIP voters are saying, they say things like well the other policies are irrelevant or deny that they are UKIP's policies at all.

[unrealhousewife]

It's nothing to do with people's education or intelligence, it's about whether they see politics in a simplistic way, through catchy ideas and easy to digest facts.

Good political choices are made on the basis of looking at the bigger picture, including the what ifs, eg what would happen if I couldn't work hard as everyone else etc.

[unrealhousewife]

digger why exactly did your Dad vote for UKIP ? What were the Tories complacent about?

[calmet]

"Those who work hard do well, those who don't are just skivers."

That is a pretty uneducated simplistic opinion. Of course hard work is part of the issue, but only part of it. I always remember people like the woman I knew who worked in 3 different jobs as a cleaner, delivered newspapers, and worked in a bakery. She worked long hours for little pay, had health problems and also babysat for her GC.

[TravellingToad]

I agree that people should read their policies if they're voting for them (and even if they aren't voting for them but are just commenting on them!)

To vote purely on the basis on the EU thing is a bit silly. Certainly if you're planning on voting that way in the GE

[Handsoff7]

"Those who work hard do well, those who don't are just skivers."

This sort of view leads to a belief that people with money are inherently better than poor people (as the poor must be skivers). It's a very dangerous and completely incorrect view.

How well you do is massively affected by who you know and the opportunities you are given (as well as a big slice of luck) Plenty of people work really hard and get little in return. I agree that right wing parties like UKIP do well out of the idea. People who have done well should think about how lucky they were along the way (avoiding redundancy fr

[Handsoff7]

"Those who work hard do well, those who don't are just skivers."

This sort of view leads to a belief that people with money are inherently better than poor people (as the poor must be skivers). It's a very dangerous and completely incorrect view.

How well you do is massively affected by who you know and the opportunities you are given (as well as a big slice of luck) Plenty of people work really hard and get little in return. I agree that right wing parties like UKIP do well out of the idea. People who have done well should think about how lucky they were along the way (avoiding redundancy for example)

[BackforGood]

Well, this didn't take long.....

Newly elected UKIP cllr suspended

[mumtosome61]

I didn't vote UKIP. My best friend's Dad, who is a lovely bloke and of supreme intellect did. We had a discussion about it - civil, polite, interesting. He felt that UKIP best represented what he wanted out of the future - a strong opinion. I cannot stand UKIP, but I also cannot really stand any of the "main" political parties and probably hold more scorn for LD than any others.

Why did people vote UKIP? Nobody can assume every reason. I think people (educated, not educated, poor, rich, everywhichway) feel that they stand for some or all of their concerns - different people have different priorities.

Totally agree with Sarinka - labelling UKIP voters as uneducated or uncultured is completely ignoring the fact that these people have done so under the conditions of what I believe, is a corrupt society - they've voted to eliminate the problems that could be stabilised by understanding and acknowledgement of a situation, rather than GET RID OF FOREIGNERS. It would be far better to address the real problems of inequality and show that it isn't necessarily immigration or otherwise that is hurting society, but the prejudice that encompasses it. I doubt it will happen.

Doesn't help that majority of parties are now central - which I think adds to the disillusion. Labour lie left of center, Tories to the right. LibDems don't know where they stand, I don't think. Left-wing seems to be underrepresented, sadly.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

you'll have people denying it ever happened and saying it was hearsay backforgood. It seems that some people on the threads around this subject only believe it if it's on the ukip webpage.

[EdithWeston]

The newly elected councillor in Redditch has been suspended from UKIP, pending their own enquiry.

Redditch council point out the alleged incident took place before he was elected, and therefore is nothing to do with them. He's still a councillor, as he was elected after the incident/s and people still preferred him to the other candidates.