Posted on 05/02/2013 8:35:11 PM PDT by Maelstorm
Commentators across the board have been hailing the "British Tea Party" for at least a year. Daniel Hannan, the Tory MEP, has even tried to launch one, without much success.
The latest to ride on the coat-tails of the popular US movement is Nigel Farage, newly re-elected as UK Independence Party leader. Speaking on Sky News, he said that his party shared the feeling of being "overtaxed, overgoverned, not being listened to". He claimed that this gave the party a "bigger political opportunity than ever before" to recruit Tories dissatisfied with David Cameron's EU-friendly policies.
Could Ukip be the British Tea Party? The two movements do have quite a lot in common: the anti-establishment flavour, the emphasis on small government, the nationalism. They also share a – how do I put this? – certain nuttiness, both groups containing some pretty extreme and off-centre elements.
But, crucially, does it have a capacity to gain mass appeal akin to that of the US group? It is worth remembering that the party did gain a million votes in this year's general election. Some even suggested that this small but significant tally could have cost Cameron his overall majority in the Commons.
Given Britain's electoral system, it is unlikely that Ukip will gain any seats in parliament, even if its share of the vote were to double. However, if it were to grow in support, it could influence public debate by pressuring the Conservatives from the right.
It's also worth noting that the Tea Party is a wing of the Republican Party, and so can pressurise traditionalists from within. Ukip is even more on the edges of mainstream political debate.
At the moment, it remains a fringe group. But as the US Tea Party shows, you write off the "nutters" at your peril. Stranger things have happened.
The Tea Party is NOT a “wing” of the Republican Party! Oy vay.....
Yes....been following them on Twitter. I think they placed second overall?
https://twitter.com/bloggers4ukip
It is unfortunate that in the UK as in the US, the Tea Party is associated with some “nuttiness”, since that is entirely a fiction created by Tea Party opponents. Any attempt to find such nuttiness will turn up only opposition sources. The Tea Party’s members are arguably the least nutty citizens in the history of this and possibly any other nation.
I have friends in Ukip. I don’t think the final numbers will be in till tomorrow but yes it looks like they did very well. This is a real threat to establishment parties. They did very well in places where it wasn’t expected. The far left lib dems have been hurt as Ukip has attracted a lot of young people including young women which is a real surprise. Unlike here the idea of a spoiler in a parliamentary style election does not carry as much weight. The real test will be in the upcoming general election. I think Ukip has a bright future.
I love Nigel
I love lamp.
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