Coverage of the Conservatives
Tories neck and neck with Labour – Sunday Times (£)
Post-budget poll boost for Tories – The Observer
Coverage of UKIP
The rage of Farage: Over balloons of brandy, UKIP leader fumes at ‘drunk womaniser’ claim, and delivers icy riposte to transsexual MEP who savaged him – Mail on Sunday
UKIP leader Nigel Farage under fire for staying at a swanky penthouse suite at taxpayers’ expense whenever he’s in Brussels – Mail on Sunday
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For a long time this blog has warned that UKIP need and deserve better than Farage. By making himself and the party indivisible from each other, the current negative coverage of Farage looks to be having negative polling consequences for UKIP, with likely electoral implications down the line. Already, Survation – UKIP’s favoured pollster – now has the party back in third place in European election polling. And yet the cult-like idiots who idolise Farage want a referendum now?
All the while Farage is sitting with journalists talking about whether or not he was screwing Annabelle Fuller (and his denials do not match up with first hand accounts of their behaviour in Brussels) and Liga from Latvia, all the while he is posing with a drink in his hand, comparing himself to Alfred the Great and Dennis Thatcher, and all the while he is trying to discredit Nikki Sinclaire as being on police bail (and has been for two years because no wrongdoing has been uncovered and the investigation has crashed to a halt), he is not presenting UKIP’s message.
Perhaps that is because under Farage, UKIP has no message apart from they are not the other parties, and whatever disgruntles you UKIP will speak up for you – even if that ‘all things to all men’ approach results in blatant contradictions. Under Farage, what could be a respectable, meaningful and supportable party is now a political punchline. It is a joke. Farage is a JAP, just another politician. He is using UKIP for his own ends and the decent people who want to see a genuine alternative party grow and develop are having their aspirations trampled into the ground because of one man’s vanity and selfishness.
Autonomous Mind 
“UKIP is the political equivalent of Millwall Football Club, whose unruly fans chant: ‘Everyone hates us, we don’t care.’”
Aside from the fact the chant was actually “no-one likes us, we don’t care” – detail Nigel, detail – there were very good reasons why Millwall wasn’t liked. Perhaps Nigel has let on more than he intended here…
Well I would assess this has heartened you
I’ll be heartened when I see Labour’s support start to drop.
Voting intention poll – err they’re always so accurate,
A load of hype. The pro-establishment, anti-withdrawal media is piling into Farage with a co-ordinated smear campaign. There are Telegraph articles with no boxes for reader comments (for obvious reasons) and one last year had some airhead journalist said she was voting Tory as the candidate was better looking than UKIP’s.
This on top of last year’s storms in a teacup about members at fancy dress parties or silly but tentatively worded insinuations about ‘Nazi salutes’. Gown up politics, please!
There seems to be a chorus of people who have their own reasons for disliking UKIP, but whose perspective is very one-sided. I wouldn’t underestimate UKIP though – and I’m in no way connected with them.
Some commentators wilfully disregard evidence that doesn’t fit in with their wishful thinking of disaster. Such as in the past UKIP lagged until a couple of weeks before the EU elections, then shot up in the polls in the last fortnight as the public woke up to the elections and talked about Europe.
UKIP are criticised for not making public statements on the Ukraine. Apart from this not being true (there’s one dated 20th March on their main site), nobody I know has any consciousness of ‘Ukraine’ impacting much on the UK. The only material ripples I can sense might be to do with world gas prices, unless George Osborne wants to p*** voters off by throwing money at a corrupt regime.
The Speccy claims only 24% trust UKIP most to ‘defend Britain’s interest in Europe’. I’m surprised it’s that high, as most know that UKIP is about Britain ‘out of Europe’. I could go on.
Just to say this happening because UKIP’s advance threatens the cosy LibLabCon consensus. I am keeping an open mind and not writing UKIP off prematurely.
“UKIP are criticised for not making public statements on the Ukraine. Apart from this not being true (there’s one dated 20th March on their main site), nobody I know has any consciousness of ‘Ukraine’ impacting much on the UK.”
It was true when the observation was made on this site on the 19th – and even my observation at that time was belated.
“The Speccy claims only 24% trust UKIP most to ‘defend Britain’s interest in Europe’. I’m surprised it’s that high, as most know that UKIP is about Britain ‘out of Europe’. I could go on.”
Actually, most voters see UKIP as the anti immigration party. It is even the defining issue for most UKIP supporters when asked in polls. But please, do go on.
Here’s the funny thing about the Daily Mail piece. People who left comments were, on the whole, supportive of Farage. Admittedly, I didn’t look beyond the first page but they said:
He sounds reasonable
nikko, Sandanski, Bulgaria, 4 days ago
I would sooner have the Vikings in charge than UKIP. If UKIP win in 2015 it will be the end of the UKas we know it.
vanortset, derby, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
vote UKIP and lets get back to being british again.
ebtowner, plymouth, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
So the red arrow brigade are quite happy for this Country to be ruled by Brussels, uncontrolled immigration and we pay £53 million a day for the privilege. Are you all mad?
JonO, England, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
More Oliver Cromwell I would have thought, UKIP’s fight is against the Westminster parliament who sit idle while the masters hand over the People to a Foreign power…..
Fred, Colony of EUSSR, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
Wish I was a drunken womaniser, funded by expenses! I am voting KIP!
rs1brussels, bedford, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
and my whole family well done
Brimstone, Telford, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
Choice 1: Grey colourless people like Cameron, Miliband and Clegg who have nothing in their past because they’ve done nothing. Choice 2: People who get up and go, try to do things, sometimes fail but never, never, never, give up, say what they mean and mean what they say; who are not part of the “metropolitan elite” who have infected this country with political correctness, excessive H&S rules and diktats; someone like Farage say. No. 2 get my vote every time.
Tony, Worthing, United Kingdom, 4 days ago
Any publicity is good publicity. Everyone realises that the establishment is running scared and any old smear won’t will do. Lynton Crosby is toast along with Dave and his out of touch Eton rabble.
david, malvern, 4 days ago
Wow! TWO anti Farage pieces in the DM on one day alone! Tory Central Office must be wetting themselves in fear.
It was the same sort of thing after the Farage-Clegg debate. The professional commentators were saying that Clegg possibly won it but the man in the street gave it to Farage. There’s a disconnect between “professional” commentators – and I’d include you, AM, and Richard North in this group – and ordinary voters. Neither group can see the other’s point of view. Maybe UKIP haven’t done as well as you’d like but it can’t be easy when you’re up against the BBC, Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems, the SNP, most newspapers and the establishment. Farage will never win over the vested interests. The best he can hope to do is get ordinary people on his side and he’s doing that pretty well.
Polls can say whatever someone wants them to say. The only poll that matters is the ballot box. Let’s see how UKIP fares in the Euro elections.
I’m not a professional commentator and no number of strawmen will make your ludicrous assertion factual.
The only disconnect is the one between reality and your wishful thinking. A few dozen vocal commentators on a comment thread does not equate to this mythical surge they keep talking about. The trend in the polls since last May has shown a clear drop in support for UKIP.
It’s strange how UKIP supporters herald a You Gov poll that shows Farage ‘win’ the debate (he clearly was more effective than Clegg), yet rubbish any You Gov poll that does not show UKIP support soaring and dismiss the poll as biased work by Peter Kellner because he is married to Cathy Ashton. The polls show evidence that Farage is not doing ‘pretty well’ to get ordinary people on his side. 11-12% nationwide in General Election polling for a party seeking to breakthrough does not represent success.
The notion that a pollster would skew results in the way alleged, which would destroy confidence in their clients to get accurate information, is lost on thos UKIP naysayers. It’s all bias, fix, conspiracy. Perhaps for the same reasons we should therefore ignore UKIP’s poll showing Farage ‘won’?