David Cameron heading for bloody nose from Ukip in local elections

telegraph.co.uk ^ | 5/2/2013 | Rowena Mason

[RoosterRedux]

Labour and Ukip are expected to gain, while the Tories fear the loss of up to 500 seats as voters go to the polls in 35 areas of England and Wales.

Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats are also expected to be punished by voters disillusioned with Coaltion, and he has not ruled out the possibility of coming fourth to Ukip.

Mr Cameron has the most to lose as the vast majority of elections for around 10,000 seats are taking place in Tory heartlands with Conservative-led councils.

The emergence of Ukip as a serious political force has thrown the contest into uncertainty, with bookmakers predicting the party could win around 100 seats despite having no MPs in the House of Commons.

In an unusual move, The Sun newspaper has maintained a neutral stance for the first time in its history, urging people to vote "local".

[US Navy Vet]

Would someone PLEASE explain to me(and alot of other people) just HOW a parlimentery(sp?) “System” works? Seems kinda “clustered” to me.

[Travis McGee]

Brits are beyond fed up with this treason.

[Norm Lenhart]

Which of their parties are closest to what we call conservative? It gives me a headache trying to sort them out.

[dragonblustar]

The Tories are like our republicans here. They use to be conservative but they’ve been taken over by the more liberal elements and are now just like our Rinos. The Tea Party should take note of this.

[SoFloFreeper]

Good. I once thought Cameron would be a worthwhile leader for the UK. His celebration of sodomy, though, betrayed his party’s pedigree.

[pgkdan]

Where does UKIP fall in? Are they similar to our Tea Party?

[rrebo]

Tories = Republican
Ukip = Tea Party
Labor = Democrat

So my view would be that Ukip in the UK is the closest to true conservative. Others may disagree. Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, is vilified and made fun of by both the Tories and Labor. Much the same way the Tea party is treated by Republicans and Democrats in this country.

[Norm Lenhart]

Thank you. That definitely helps.

[Timber Rattler]

Looks alike a fine model for a potential new American TEA/Conservative Party to emulate.

[9YearLurker]

It’s actually more rational in some ways than our codified two-party system. There is more than a simple duality of opinions on things, and a regular parliamentary system makes it easier to find coalitions to a majority on individual issues than does a, well, duopoly.

Domestically, you could have the Obamaesque screaming Marxists, lunch-pail union leftists with some right-leaning social tendencies, libertarians, social conservatives, neocons and mushy middle all converging differently on different issues.

In practicality, regular parliamentary systems end up as a hybrid between that and our bifurcated permanent political class, so you don’t get that true fluidity.

[dragonblustar]

They are a bit like the Tea Party but if you mean are they conservative, that remains to be seen.

https://www.facebook.com/TheUKIP?fref=ts

Like it is here in America, the two main parties are looking a lot alike, i.e. big spending, open immigration...etc.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

I would vote UKIP, but there is an (American-born as it happens) Tory councillor who has done a lot for our area and I’d rather not vote against her...

[nd76]

The elections to which the article refers are for “council” elections, which are akin to county or city councils over here. The UK is divided into “councils”, which in London can be “boroughs” and in rural areas can be as big as counties.

[lauraw]

A parliamentary system puts parliament first. Think if our House of Representatives determined the Prime Minister—as it does in Britain, where the party that wins the greatest number of seats determines which party runs the executive branch. UKIP is intensely conservative—it’s what old Tories were like, and specifically it’s against uncontrolled immigration and the EU. I think Thatcher would be in UKIP now were she about and well enough to make the choice. Go UKIP—the party seems to represent Britain’s last chance at sanity.

[Jabba the Nutt]

Anglo-Saxon England uses "first past the post" rules. That means the candidate, who gets he most votes wins. It's doesn't take a majority, just one vote more than the second place finisher. So, with multiple candidates, you can win with 30%. They don't use "proportional representation".

Then the elected candidates move to parliament. The party or coalition with a majority of the seats becomes the ruling group.

[Amberdawn]

The Tea Party and UKIP are very similar. Tories=RINO’s and Labour=Democraps. The Lib-Dem’s in the UK are even more socialist.