BRITAIN-POLITICS/BY-ELECTION-CAMPAIGNING UK's anti-EU UKIP party aims for second parliamentary seat

Record ID: 347814

  • Title: BRITAIN-POLITICS/BY-ELECTION-CAMPAIGNING UK's anti-EU UKIP party aims for second parliamentary seat
  • Date: 20th November 2014
  • Summary: ROCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (NOVEMBER 19, 2014) (REUTERS) VIEW OF ROCHESTER SKYLINE AT SUNSET BOATS ON RIVER BOATS/ROCHESTER SKYLINE VARIOUS OF SIGN READING (English): "WELCOME TO HISTORIC ROCHESTER" ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL / CASTLE MAN WALKING DOWN HIGH STREET CARRYING SIGN READING (English): "I'M VOTING UKIP" VARIOUS OF UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP) CANDIDATE, MARK RECKLESS, WALKI
  • Embargoed: 5th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADZ9HOCVAS23NIPVN3ETIFCDZT
  • Story Text: Voters in the constituency of Rochester and Stroud in the south-east of England will go to the polls on Thursday (November 20) in a by-election that offers the UK Independence Party (UKIP) the chance to win its second parliamentary seat, taking votes from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives six months before a national election.
    UKIP, led by Nigel Farage, promises to curb immigration and pull Britain out of the European Union.
    Once dismissed by Cameron as "closet racists", UKIP has poached two of his lawmakers in recent months and won its first seat in Britain's parliament in October, at his expense, after winning European elections in the United Kingdom in May.
    The EU's expansion 10 years ago has enabled East Europeans to compete for jobs in Britain from sandwich-making to plumbing and professional roles. Their arrival follows decades of immigration from African and Asian countries that were once part of Britain's empire.
    Many Britons complain immigrants have driven wages down and housing costs up, particularly in the crowded southeast.
    Immigration has played a significant role in the by-election campaign.
    On Wednesday (November 19) as he carried out final campaigning, UKIP candidate Mark Reckless, formerly the Conservative MP for the constituency, was forced to defend comments he made during an election hustings in which he said EU migrants could be asked to leave Britain if his party were in government.
    "UKIP are the only party who have a non-discriminatory system which we want to apply equally to people from outside the EU, whether Commonwealth say from Africa or from the Caribbean, they should be treated fairly and equally rather than having a system which discriminates in favour of Europeans," said Reckless.
    Immigration has shot up the list of voters' concerns with UKIP blaming Britain's membership of the EU for the government's powerlessness to reduce it.
    Cameron's party promised to cut net migration to the tens of thousands by next year's election. But official statistics show net long-term migration into Britain has risen to 243,000 in the year to March 2014.
    Cameron, whose party is a whisker behind left-leaning Labour in opinion polls, is talking tough to try to stop voter desertions to UKIP, which could split the centre-right vote and gift victory to Labour in next year's national polls.
    The British leader told his party to mobilise all its resources to stop UKIP in Rochester.
    The Conservative candidate, Kelly Tolhurst, was joined by government minister Eric Pickles on the final day of campaigning.
    "This by-election Mark Reckless has said one thing to one audience and in one hustings he said that our immigration controls were I quote 'inhumane'. But then to another audience he said that migrants should be repatriated. I think what it has shown is that Mark Reckless will say anything to try and get elected. You know I've been very clear on my position from the start of the campaign about immigration. I've said I want more action not just talk on immigration. I believe people should come here to work and contribute and we need to take more action on people being able to claim benefits," Tolhurst told journalists.
    But on the high street there was plenty of evidence of support for UKIP.
    "I'm actually voting UKIP, not because I've got any racist views but quite honestly I think the main politicians are now running for cover because it's something radical. It needs to shake up," said Barry Lane.
    "UKIP. I think we've had enough of the others. They promise everything and deliver nothing," said Steve Page.
    "I'm voting for UKIP tomorrow. I've always been a Conservative voter. Time for a change. Very disappointed with the way Conservatives have handled immigration and the EU so I'm going to be voting UKIP," said Isabel Jobe.
    If, as four opinion polls suggest, UKIP wins Rochester next week, other Conservative defections may follow.
    With experts ranking Rochester as only the 271st most likely parliamentary seat to switch to UKIP out of Britain's 650, victory there would flag a much wider threat to Cameron's re-election chances in May 2015 than previously thought.
    But Matthew Goodwin, an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, said UKIP was beginning to win support away from the other main parties too.
    "At the moment the Conservatives are mainly feeling the UKIP challenge. That's because of two reasons, firstly UKIP itself is mainly targeting Conservative areas in southern England along the east coast but also we know that lots of the people who are now voting for UKIP said they voted for the Conservatives at the 2010 general election. However, UKIP now is beginning to make some pretty significant inroads into the Labour party's vote. It's also winning over a significant number of disaffected Liberal Democrats and there is some evidence to suggest its winning over people who didn't vote at all at the last general election. The problem for main parties is as this revolt gains momentum it's beginning to draw in support from different groups in society. It's not just a second home for Conservatives."
    Whether UKIP are able to maintain their momentum will be clear in the early hours of Friday (November 21) morning.
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