BRITAIN-ELECTION/FARAGE PROFILE Brussels-bashing Farage threatens to split right-wing vote

Record ID: 134906

  • Title: BRITAIN-ELECTION/FARAGE PROFILE Brussels-bashing Farage threatens to split right-wing vote
  • Date: 23rd April 2015
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION EU FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 8th May 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABI0J1A5994FPKW7H8EH75U3JM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: UKIP leader and MEP Nigel Farage hopes his eurosceptic party's stunning victory in the European Parliament elections in May last year will carry him forward in Britain's May 7 national election and finally give him a seat at the Westminster table, but the Brussels-bashing politician is slipping in the polls.
    The wave of success by nationalist and anti-EU parties across much of Europe a year ago caused a political earthquake and tapped into public anger with Brussels.
    UKIP's rapid rise in popularity may cost Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives an outright victory, and the party hopes to use the election to advance its campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union.
    At his victory speech after the European elections, Farage told supporters: "UKIP is criticised quite heavily for focusing on Europe and immigration, but I will make a prediction. I think the immigration issue will be even bigger in next year's general election than it was in the European elections this year."
    He angrily told the European Parliament in Strasbourg: "What you are going to have to get used to, all of you, is the idea that across the political spectrum there are now more eurosceptics in this parliament than there have ever been and many of them do not subscribe to ever closer union."
    And he vowed he would win a seat in the House of Commons as a British Member of Parliament (MP) in the 2015 election and leave Brussels behind.
    "Don't worry too much about my presence because in the next five years I won't be here. Alright?".
    UKIP's fierce rhetoric on curbing immigration and introducing an Australian points style system for entry to the UK has led to accusations it is a racist party. A claim vehemently denied by Farage.
    A few months ago he looked like he was sure to become South Thanet's new MP on the south east England coast.
    But his lead has slipped and latest polling shows he could fail to wrestle the seat away from the Conservatives.
    No clear winner emerged from the main TV debate of the election campaign, the unusual format saw Prime Minister Cameron facing off against six political rivals.
    All of whom rounded on Farage when he stirred controversy by complaining about the number of foreigners seeking treatment for HIV in Britain.
    "You ought to be ashamed of yourself" Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood told the UKIP frontman.
    The comments underscore how immigration has emerged as a major issue among voters, some of whom feel migrants have depressed wages, taken jobs from Britons, and diluted the country's identity.
    The issue threatens Cameron's re-election chances because the anti-immigrant UKIP has split the right wing vote.
    Farage's party has suffered strings of scandals and political gaffes, but as a leader Farage has managed to maintain his folksy image of an ordinary bloke who likes a beer and a smoke. Supporters warm to his jovial demeanour and believe he speaks their language.
    At the UKIP manifesto launch, Farage pledged to leave the European Union immediately and outlined spending cuts to foreign aid and a rise in the defence budget, as the party tried to appear more than a single issue political movement.
    UKIP's leader Nigel Farage said that they were the only party to directly oppose British membership of the European Union.
    ''We want to be good neighbours with our European friends, but we desperately seek a referendum so that we can set this country free from political union,'' he said.
    Farage has said that if he fails in his sixth attempt to become a member of parliament, he'll quit as party leader, a move which would likely send the anti-EU party into the political wilderness.
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