Is the UK election the end of UKIP?
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While the party has lost votes across the country, some supporters may be energised by the prospect of a hard Brexit in jeopardy.
The share of the vote afforded to UKIP has dipped even lower than it was in 2005 – a victory for decency, some might say. Two years ago, though the party did not win any seats, they averaged 32% of the vote in the ten seats in which they did best. This time around, that figure was just 8%.
The election came at the end of a turbulent few years for UKIP, which rose in prominence and vote share sharply between 2010 and 2015, before bottoming out completely yesterday. Supporters of the party may have thought, ‘job done,’ – and well they might, with the UK having triggered Article 50 and an exit from the European Union edging ever closer.
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Although support has collapsed in the 2017 general election, many supporters may feel that the unexpected election result puts in jeopardy their hard Brexit – with no freedom of movement and no concessions made. In fact, former leader and MEP Nigel Farage has suggested that he may step back into the ring, following the shock result of a hung parliament.
In 2016 the party had more than 400 local councillors, but since achieving its modus operandi has struggled to find a place in the British parliamentary system. It’s fundamentally a one-issue party, and once that issue had been ‘solved’ it failed to retain many voters.
It has also suffered without the charisma and headline-grabbing antics of Nigel Farage, with the most recent leader, Paul Nuttall, struggling to make an impression on many voters. His barefaced lies about his CV ensured that he was a laughing stock before a general election was even called.
The golden hour of UKIP has (thankfully) passed, but we may yet see some resurgence in support for the party, from those desperate to ensure the UK leaves the European Union. Though it must surely do so, the uncertainty around what exactly that process will entail could recoup for UKIP some of the votes lost to Labour and the Conservatives this time around.
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