Ukip. All discussion here please.

[JFKvsNixon]

If Carswell resigns, I believe the local party will vote Farage as the person to be the next UKIP candidate for the by-election. Currently they hold the seat by 3,500. Farage's presence may increase that majority.

 

If an MP leaves a political party there isn't any rules that state that there has to be a by-election. You vote for the MP not the MP's party.

[SevenRivers]

Fantastic news that I'm sure will please most UKIP members.

Miliband and Clegg resigned (and had their resignations accepted) because they had failed.

Nigel hasn't failed. He has led UKIP to now being the third largest party by vote share and now being the the main opposition in many constituencies, quite a remarkable rise for a party barely anybody knew of a decade ago, and given the monumental struggle a new party to the political system faces against parties far more mature having been on the scene in one form or another for hundreds of years.

[JFKvsNixon]

Fantastic news that I'm sure will please most UKIP members.

Miliband and Clegg resigned (and had their resignations accepted) because they had failed.

Nigel hasn't failed. He has led UKIP to now being the third largest party by vote share and now being the the main opposition in many constituencies, quite a remarkable rise for a party barely anybody knew of a decade ago, and given the monumental struggle a new party to the political system faces against parties far more mature having been on the scene in one form or another for hundreds of years.

 

After the upcoming referendum on our membership of the EU, what will be the point of UKIP? Surely the issue would have been solved one way or another by the next election?

[SevenRivers]

After the upcoming referendum on our membership of the EU, what will be the point of UKIP? Surely the issue would have been solved one way or another by the next election?

 

A fair EU referendum is yet far from assured.

 

Only British nationals should be able to vote for example. If EU citizens are allowed to vote, effectively gerrymandering the vote, and a result declared to stay within the EU, UKIP will not accept such a result.

[poppet2]

If an MP leaves a political party there isn't any rules that state that there has to be a by-election. You vote for the MP not the MP's party.

 

If an MP decides to resign there will be a by-election.

 

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/by-elections/

[LeMaquis]

Nigel hasn't failed.

 

"The consequences of me failing to secure a seat for myself in the Commons would be significant for me and the party. It is frankly just not credible for me to continue to lead the party without a Westminster seat of my own. What credibility would Ukip have in the Commons if others had to enunciate party policy in Parliament and the party leader was only allowed in as a guest? Am I supposed to brief Ukip policy from the Westminster Arms? No – if I fail to win South Thanet, it is curtains for me. I will have to step down."

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11467045/Nigel-Farage-If-I-lose-in-South-Thanet-its-curtains-for-me-I-will-have-to-quit-as-Ukip-leader.html

 

Just fancy that.

[JFKvsNixon]

If an MP decides to resign there will be a by-election.

 

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/by-elections/

 

I'm not talking about an MP resigning his seat, I'm talking about an MP leaving a political party. There is precedent for MP's to change parties without calling a by-election.

[chalga]

"The consequences of me failing to secure a seat for myself in the Commons would be significant for me and the party. It is frankly just not credible for me to continue to lead the party without a Westminster seat of my own. What credibility would Ukip have in the Commons if others had to enunciate party policy in Parliament and the party leader was only allowed in as a guest? Am I supposed to brief Ukip policy from the Westminster Arms? No – if I fail to win South Thanet, it is curtains for me. I will have to step down."

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11467045/Nigel-Farage-If-I-lose-in-South-Thanet-its-curtains-for-me-I-will-have-to-quit-as-Ukip-leader.html

 

Just fancy that.

 

 

Face/Off

[MikeFrank]

The members bit seems to refer to committee members, not all their members;

 

" Ukip’s chairman, Steve Crowther, released a statement saying Farage’s resignation had been “unanimously rejected by the national executive committee members who produced overwhelmingly evidence that the Ukip membership did not want Nigel to go”.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/11/nigel-farage-withdraws-resignation-as-ukip-leader

 

If one visits the press comments section they are swarmed by people who want him to stay. I don't know why people hate him so, he's entertaining at least.

[poppet2]

I'm not talking about an MP resigning his seat, I'm talking about an MP leaving a political party. There is precedent for MP's to change parties without calling a by-election.

 

Yes, which is what Carlswell previously did when he defected from Tory to UKIP.

Under such conditions a by-election, surprisingly, is not required to take place. It's called crossing the floor and is all above board without the requirement for a by-election, although hardly democratic for the electorate who voted him in.

However, I doubt whether Carlswell would defect back to the Tories again.