Jonathan Arnott withdraws from leadership election

Jonathan Arnott has withdrawn from the leadership election, saying that he could only finish second at best and urged fellow candidates to step down and reduce the number of candidates to help maintain some unity in the party.

Arnott's withdrawal leaves Bill Etheridge, Diane James, Elizabeth Jones, Lisa Duffy and Phillip Broughton still in the running.

Despite failing to attend any of the leadership hustings events organised by the party and listing her own leadership tour, Diane James remains the favourite to replace Nigel Farage. Her decision to go it alone with the hustings has attracted some criticism from members who have described it as disrespectful.

UKIP membership tops 21k & members' forum suspended

UKIP General Secretary, Jonathan Arnott, has the following two interesting pieces in his newsletter today:

A few weeks ago, the Party's membership broke through the 20,000 barrier.  I am pleased to be able to inform you that the Party has today gone past 21,000 members.  Given the rate of decline of the Liberal Democrat party membership, if UKIP can continue our meteoric rise then we could overtake them in terms of size as well as membership before the General Election!

At the request of the Party Chairman, the members' forum has been suspended due to an article in the Sunday Mirror which featured comments from the forum.  I should point out that:

1. The posts concerned date back to September and November 2012.
2. The posts were removed at the time for breaching the rules.  However, a member had clearly taken a screenshot before they were removed.
3. The forum has over 2,500 members; the article mentioned posts by 3 members.

Nevertheless, the Party cannot allow ourselves to become subject to attack in the media as a result of the forum.

UKIP Sheffield launch European elections campaign

The UK Independence Party in Sheffield launched its campaign for the European elections on Wednesday. Last time the European elections were contested in 2004 UKIP shocked the political establishment by taking over 2.6 million votes nationally, knocking the Liberal Democrats into fourth place.

The campaign launch at St. Mary's Conference Centre on Bramall Lane was attended by Paul Nuttall (UKIP Party Chairman) and Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary), and the press together with 25 local activists.

Jonathan Arnott, is also the no.2 candidate for the 'Yorkshire and the Humber' region and the chairman of the local branch in Sheffield. Paul Nuttall spoke of his delight that this year's campaign is shaping up to be "the most professional national campaign that this party has ever run" and praised the local UKIP Sheffield organisation which has already delivered over 20,000 leaflets in April.

Jonathan Arnott spoke on the reasons for voting UKIP at this year's European elections: "We’re in the middle of the biggest global recession in my lifetime and we’re fighting it with one hand tied behind our backs with Brussels red tape. Our small bus inesses are being strangled before they can become big businesses. If you’re right-wing, you should oppose the EU for its interference in sentencing and belief in unlimited immigration. If you’re left-wing you should oppose it for its callous foreign policy and state aid rules that won’t let the government help failing businesses. But whether you’re left, right or centre we should all be opposing the EU for its wastefulness, bureaucracy and cost."

Jonathan also reminded activists that the European elections are a 'single-issue election'. Jonathan said "UKIP are often accused of being a single-issue party. We're not a single-issue party but this is a single-issue election about our relationship with the European Union. If you’re in favour of the European Union you have a wide range of choices – Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green. If you’re opposed to the European Union then there’s just one moderate show in town and that is the UK Independence Party".

Immediately following the launch, UKIP activists took to the streets in the city centre handing out leaflets and received an encouraging response from the public.

Interview with Jonathan Arnott- General Secretary UKIP

What made you join UKIP?

The first time I was old enough to vote was in 2001, when I was 20. The Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative Party didn't deserve my vote and I was desperate to find a realistic alternative. One day I happened to meet some UKIP activists running a stall in the centre of Shrewsbury, of all places! I agreed with them on the EU but I wanted to know about all the other issues. I went home, read the manifesto and agreed with it. I signed up, but there was just one UKIP candidate selected for six Sheffield seats at that election and none in my area. I was too young to stand (the limit was 21 then), so I persuaded my Mum, Dad and girlfriend and two other friends to stand and we filled all six seats.

How are you finding the role of General Secretary so far and what does your role generally see you doing within the Party?

It's great fun but also a huge challenge. With this job I don't think it's possible to ever clear the in-tray. No matter how many hours I put in,there's always something left over to do! The first thing I did was to set up the new UKIP members forum at www.ukip.org.uk If we can get members communicating with each other, they'll feel part of a team and able to share campaign ideas. A lot of my job is admin and dealing with the publiuc, Party members and branches- and that can be answering questions, resolving disputes, dealing with complaints or persuading members who are upset to give us another try! I now take the minutes at the NEC meetings. Next we need to make more use of email to keep Party members informed of what is going on in UKIP. As a free way of publicising UKIP, I'm planning to produce an e-flyer which we can email to all members and ask them to forward it to any friends, family and colleagues who might be interested in UKIP.

In what ways do you believe UKIP's policies are relevant to young people?

Young people are less likely to go out and vote so they're often accused of not caring about the Country. Nothing could be further from the truth; they care about issues more than Party politics. We have the perfect policy for that! We believe the public should be trusted to decide key issues in a referendum. Let's start to trust young people. Let's give them a chance for their vote to make a real difference!

What role do you see Young Independence having in the Party?

The first time I spoke at Conference I was 21. There were only two other members there under the age of thirty. Today, we have an immensely talented set of young people coming through the Party. I want to see YI bringing fresh drive and enthusiasm to the Party, new ideas and a real sense of purpose.

You yourself gave a fantastic speech at the Party Conference in Bournemouth, but what were your highlights?

Firstly, hearing Bob Spink for the first time. Who'd have thought a year ago that we'd have a UKIP MP addressing conference? Secondly, I realised just how much influence YI now has within the Party. We now have the Party Chairman, General Secretary, NEC member, PPC's and six candidates for the 2009 European Elections 2009 as well as an impressive array of public speakers who really stole the show.

How do you think UKIP can build upon our success in 2004 in this year's European Election?

We'll knock on as many doors as we can, but the key is fundraising. We need Billboards, advertising, a far greater internet presence and a simple message that resonates with the voters. The European elections are based on a single issue, the EU, which is unpopular with voters. If you like the EU , you can vote Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem or Green. If you don't like the EU, therre's only one show in town:UKIP

Interviewed by Michael Heaver.