Farage rules himself out of the leadership contest

Nigel Farage has ruled himself out of the latest leadership election, saying that mounting a comeback would be premature.

Although the decision will be a disappointment to many he is right to point out that after three times as leader it's becoming a bit of a joke. We are the UK Independence Party, not the Nigel Farage Party and although he is by far the most successful politician to never make it to Westminster we have to move on under someone else's leadership. We've had a couple of false starts but with the right leader we will rediscover our success of the last few years without Nigel at the helm.

The best way to protect Nigel's legacy now is to get behind the party and its next leader. We have to make sure we get a real Brexit and provide an effective opposition to Labour and the Tories and that's only going to happen with a successful UKIP.

Leadership election result today

The results of the leadership election will be announced at lunchtime today with Paul Nuttall the bookies' favourite by a wide margin.

Most bookies are offering odds of 1/7 for Paul Nuttall with John Rees-Evans at 6/1 and Suzanne Evans at 8/1. Nobody is going to get rich backing Paul Nuttall!

John Rees-Evans has made a preemptive complaint about the election process as some members didn't receive their ballot papers from the Electoral Reform Service and were allowed to vote by email to the returning officer, Paul Oakden. The number of eligible members who didn't receive a ballot paper is unknown but not thought to be significant.

Due to the number of candidates and the impracticality of voting by email for the NEC election, that deadline has been extended to 9th December.

Peter Whittle drops out of leadership race

Peter Whittle is the latest contender to drop out of the leadership race and is giving his support to Paul Nuttall.

Whittle is one of UKIP's two members on the London Assembly and one of the UK's most senior openly gay politicians. He is the the party's culture spokesman.

There are now just three contenders in the race: Suzanne Evans, Paul Nuttall MEP and John Rees-Evans.

Raheem Kassam and David Kurten pull out of leadership race

Raheem Kassam has pulled out of the leadership race today after failing to secure adequate funding from supporters to pay for anything other than an online campaign.

David Kurten also pulled out of the leadership race yesterday, saying that he would be happy to work with any of the candidates still in the running.

This leaves just four candidates: Suzanne Evans, Paul Nuttall MEP, John Rees-Evans and Peter Whittle AM.

What is interesting is how different these final four candidates are. Two of the four are full time politicians, one is a woman, one is Welsh, one is from a working class council estate and another is gay. Both BME candidates pulled out over the last 48 hours but the diversity of the 7 candidates who officially declared their intention to stand torpedoes the media lie that UKIP is a party of racist, sexist, homophobic old Tories in cheap blazers. There has been more diversity in UKIP's leadership contest than all the other mainstream parties combined.

Raheem Kassam's promise to change his ways isn't enough

Leadership candidate, Raheem Kassam, has apologised and promised to change his ways after being called out for verbally abusing leadership rival Suzanne Evans.

Kassam called Evans a "wrinkly old ginger bird" and has reportedly been "incredibly sexist" toward her. He says that he apologised to her at a patron's dinner this week but Evans says that he did no such thing.

Raheem Kassam fancies himself as the heir to Farage which is something of an insult to the man who turned UK politics upside down and secured our independence from the EU. Nigel Farage is straight talking and brutally honest, Kassam is just rude and offensive. When the Independent wants Kassam to win to destroy the party it's a pretty clear indication that there is something seriously wrong with him.

I normally try to avoid taking sides in internal elections but if this man somehow ends up winning the leadership election I will return my membership card and I know I'm not alone.

Andew Beadle withdraws from leadership race and endorses Paul Nuttall

Andrew Beadle is the latest candidate to withdraw from the leadership contest and back Paul Nuttall.

His decision follows yesterday's announcement by Bill Etheridge MEP that he, too, was pulling out of the race and endorsing Nuttall to be the next party leader.

Paul Nuttall has received the backing of a number of high profile members, including five MEPs, the UKIP groups on Bolton and Thanet councils and the UKIP group leader on Hartlepool Council as well as former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom and former leader fot he party, Lord Pearson of Rannoch.

A poll of 91 UKIP councillors for the Times puts Paul Nuttall way out in front with 42% of the vote, followed by Suzanne Evans on 22%, Raheem Kassam on 9% and Peter Whittle on 1%. None of the other current candidates are included in the poll but it is unlikely to make a difference to the outcome.

Suzanne Evans has yet to announce any of her high profile backers, presumably keeping her powder dry for later in the campaign. Raheem Kassam has the support of UKIP's second largest donor and Leave.EU founder, Aaron Banks.

Bill Etheridge withdraws from leadership contest and backs Paul Nuttall

Bill Etheridge has pulled out of the leadership race and is backing Paul Nuttall.

Etheridge came third in the last leadership election behind Diane James and Lisa Duffy and declared his intention to run again almost as soon as the new leadership election was announced. But in a statement today he says that Paul Nuttall is "the only person who can effectively unite our party" and urged all other candidates to drop out and let Paul win.

With the threshold for retaining a deposit set at 20% it is likely that other candidates will drop out leaving Paul Nuttall and Suzanne Evans to slug it out with the ever hopeful but unlikely contender, Raheem Kassam, tagging along.

With Bill Etheridge pulling out of the leadership race there are now seven candidates:

Andrew Beadle was the UKIP parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey & Old Southwark in the 2015 general election and for Wallington South by-election later that year.

Suzanne Evans is a former Deputy Chairman of the party and was barred from the previous leadership election as she was serving a suspension following her conduct in the London Assembly election campaign. It is very much to her credit that she stuck with UKIP despite what she and others (rightly or wrongly) felt was unfair treatment.

Raheem Kassam is the London editor of the hard right American political website, Breitbart. He was ineligible under the rules of the previous contest as he hadn't been a member for long enough but qualifies now the criteria have been relaxed.

David Kurten AM is one of the two UKIP members on the London Assembly. Kurten taught chemistry before entering politics, giving lectures all over the world. As leader he wants to make sure the country "sticks to the path of freedom".

Paul Nuttall MEP pulled out of the previous leadership election and the decision was in no small part because of threats and abuse from far left activists. As a working class, old Labour northerner Nutall is seen as a huge threat to Labour and the Corbynists in particular.

John Rees-Evans is a former member of the armed forces with homes in South Wales, France and Bulgaria. He is no little Englander (or Welsher). Rees-Evans was educated overseas in 11 different schools in 3 different countries. But he will be best known for having claimed that his horse was raped by a gay donkey.

Peter Whittle AM is a member of the London Assembly. Whittle is one of the most senior openly gay politicians in the country (UKIP MEP for Scotland, David Coburn, is another) and was the only gay candidate for London Mayor.

Paul Nuttall and Suzanne Evans join leadership contest

Paul Nuttall and Suzanne Evans have thrown their hats into the ring for the re-run of the leadership election following Diane Evans' resignation after just 18 days.

Evans was barred from the previous leadership election as she was serving a suspension following her conduct in the London Assembly election campaign. It is very much to her credit that she stuck with UKIP despite what she and others (rightly or wrongly) felt was unfair treatment.

Nuttall pulled out of the previous leadership election and the decision was in no small part because of threats and abuse from far left activists. As a working class, old Labour northerner Nutall is seen as a huge threat to Labour and the Corbynists in particular.

London Assembly member Peter Whittle was an unexpected addition to the leadership race when he announced his candidacy a little under a fortnight ago. Whittle is one of the most senior openly gay politicians in the country (UKIP MEP for Scotland, David Coburn, is another) and was the only gay candidate for London Mayor.

West Midlands MEP, Bill Etheridge, is the only candidate from the previous contest to put himself forward again. He came third behind Diane James and Lisa Duffy and ahead of Phillip Broughton and Liz Jones.

The final declared candidate so far is the London editor of the hard right American political website, Breitbart, Raheem Kassam. Kassam was ineligible under the rules of the previous contest as he hadn't been a member for long enough but qualifies now the criteria have been relaxed.

It's time to put aside our differences and unite behind our new leader

Diane James was elected leader of UKIP today by a large majority.

A total of 17,842 votes were cast in the leadership election with around 50% of eligible members voting.

The leadership contest has caused some divisions in the party but now it's time to get behind our new leader and win elections. The Tories can't be trusted to deliver on Brexit or any of the UKIP policies they've been talking about. Labour and the Lib Dems are both committed to reversing the referendum decision and blocking Brexit. Winning the referendum was just the first battle in our war for independence and we won't win that war without UKIP.

Candidate	Votes	%
Diane James	8,451	47.4%
Lisa Duffy	4,591	25.7%
Bill Etheridge	2,052	11.5%
Phillip Broughton	1,545	8.7%
Liz Jones	1,203	6.7%

Breaking: Diane James elected leader of UKIP

Diane James has been elected leader of UKIP by the party membership.

Our own polling on social media had Diane way out in front for the duration of the contest.

Diane will be seen as a safe pair of hands, pledging to retain UKIP's current manifesto rather than rip it up and steer the party in a different direction. She rightly said that UKIP's manifesto doesn't need changing, it's already reflective of what the party stands for.

LGBT* in UKIP question leadership hopefuls

Members of the LGBT* in UKIP group had their opportunity to put their questions to the five leadership hopefuls this week in a Q&A arranged by LGBT* in UKIP Chairman, Flo Lewis.

Which candidate has changed their mind on gay marriage? Which candidate thinks Northern Ireland needs educating on same sex marriage? Who wants to lift the ban on gays donating blood and who thinks the party has to be careful not to rock the boat? Find out in the LGBT* in UKIP Leadership Election Q&A.

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.

Confirmed leadership candidates so far

The deadline for nominations for the leadership of UKIP will be closing soon and six candidates have confirmed their intention to stand so far.

Candidate
Jonathan Arnott MEP
Cllr Lisa Duffy
Bill Etheridge MEP
Elizabeth Jones
Steven Woolfe MEP

Jonathan Arnott is UKIP MEP for the north east of England and served as UKIP General Secretary for 6 years. Arnott is a mathematician and continued as head of maths at Handsworth Christian School until he was elected MEP in 2014. He is officially UKIP's most rebellious MEP but also has the highest voting record of UKIP's MEPs.

Lisa Duffy is a councillor and leader of the UKIP group on Huntingdonshire District Council and a town councillor on Ramsey Town Council, the first UKIP-controlled council in the country which she was also mayor of. Duffy is leader of the UKIP group on Huntingdonshire District and Chief of Staff to Patrick O'Flynn MEP. She has been endorsed by Suzanne Evans.

Bill Etheridge is one of the UKIP MEPs for the West Midlands and councillor on Dudley MBC. Bill is a member of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, CAMRA and is an Associate of the American Legislative Exchange Council. He sits on the EU Regional Development Committee and is being backed for leader by his ex-wife, UKIP disabilities spokesman Star Anderton.

Elizabeth Jones is a member of UKIP's National Executive Council and Deputy Chairman of Lambeth UKIP. Elizabeth has contested 11 elections for UKIP and was a key member of UKIP's election campaign.

Steven Woolfe is one of the UKIP MEPs for the north west of England and a practising barrister. Woolfe is UKIP's financial affairs and City of London spokesman and head of UKIP's Black & Minority Ethnic Association. He has the support of Nathan Gill AM and is currently favourite to succeed Nigel Farage and become the first BME leader of a mainstream political party in the UK.

Nigel Farage is the new UKIP leader (again)

The votes have been counted and Nigel Farage was duly elected leader of UKIP today by the membership.

Was it ever going to be a different result?  No.  Was such a convincing victory expected?  Yes.  The only surprise for me was David Campbell Bannerman coming in third behind Tim Congdon but I guess I underestimated the negative effect the Question Time débacle would have on DCB's popularity.

The final results were as follows:

Nigel Farage: 6,085 votes (60.27%)
Tim Congdon: 2,037 (20.18%)
DCB: 1,444 (14.30%)
Winston: 530 (5.25%)

A total of 10,096 votes were cast, which I'm told is over 50% of the voting membership (those with the free membership don't get to vote).  That's better than most local elections!

Just for fun, let's have a look what our new leader would look like if he was elected by proportional representation:

He'd have Nigel Farage's head, torso and arms; Tim Congdon's right leg and feet; DCB's left leg; and Winston's boxing gloves.

Admit it, you're imagining this bizarre parody of the human form stalking Emperor Barosso down the corridors of Strasbourg with a hunting rifle and a bent banana ... or perhaps my fertile imagination is a little too fertile on this occasion.

So where do we go from here?  Nigel's victory was inevitable and for me, it was the best result we could hope for.  Whether you like it or not, Farage is the man most people associate with UKIP and even people who have no interest in politics, no interest in the EU and have never heard of UKIP still know who he is.  We are not a one man band and Farage is certainly not the only talent we have but he is the person the media are interested in, he's the one people vote for and he's the one that an overwhelming majority of the membership want to lead the party.  Politics is about personality more than policy these days and that's something he isn't lacking in.

Whether you voted for Nigel, for DCB, Congdon or Winston, now is the time to get behind our new leader and make a difference.  Ordinary Conservatives are spitting feathers over the repeated betrayal on the EU by Cast Iron Dave.  Only yesterday I was talking to a former UKIPper who left for the Tories and has now realised that UKIP is the only place for eurosceptics and rejoined, bringing two Tories with him.  Lifelong supporters of the Tories are disillusioned with the europhile leadership of their party and are turning to UKIP as the only credible alternative to the unholy trinity of Cameron, Clegg and Clarke, the arch eurofederalists.  Even the guys over at Conservative Home seem to struggle to find something positive to say about Cameron when he's caving in to the EU on an almost daily basis.

Lib Dems are wandering around aimlessly wondering what the hell is going on.  Are they Conservatives now or are they Liberals?  Whether they were Liberals in the first place is debatable but they certainly don't know who they are now, having sold out on pretty much every principle and election pledge they had just to hang off Cast Iron Dave's coat tails.

And Labour.  What can we say about Labour?  They've gone from the heady heights of the Blair era when they seemed like they'd be in power forever and everything they touched turned to gold (it turned out to be fools gold but fools gold is better than no gold and a pile of worthless euros, isn't that right Gordon?) to electoral irrelevance, lacking vision and drive.  So desperate are they for some publicity that they're even criticising Cameron for caving in to the EU!

We have a real chance right now of capitalising on the disaffection amongst the members and supporters of the LibLabCon parties.  They are quite rightly asking why they should continue to support a party that has abandoned its principles over not just the EU but on civil liberties, the economy and freedom of the individual.  The truth is, there is only one party in this country that is committed to freedom of the individual, low taxes, small government and the right of this country to govern itself and that party is UKIP.

But we're not going to attract these people if they see infighting, disorganisation and unhappiness amongst the membership so put a smile on your face and get behind our new leader.  He made us some promises if we elected him; the membership has kept up its side of the bargain so let's give him the opportunity and support he needs to make good on those promises.

Last chance to vote for Leader

Tomorrow is the last chance to vote in the UKIP leadership election.

Ballots have to be received at UKIP Head Office by tomorrow to be counted and the result will be announced on Friday.

David Campbell Bannerman MEP & Head of Policy
	Tim Congdon CBE Former Professor of Economics & UKIP PPC
Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of EFD Group & former Leader
	Winston McKenzie Youth worker & former boxer

Some animals are more equals than others

David Campbell Bannerman complained to the BBC about Nigel Farage's planned appearance on Question Time and had him pulled from the programme.

Tim Congdon chipped in and said it wasn't fair for Farage to appear on TV when the other leadership candidates didn't.

So where was Tim Congdon last Sunday?  On the BBC Politics Show without any of the other candidates.  His justification for appearing on the Politics Show when he said it was unfair for Farage to appear on Question Time?  Because he announced that he was going to be on the show and none of the other candidates complained so they obviously didn't mind.

Why DCB decided not to complain about Tim Congdon appearing on the BBC is a mystery, especially considering that he made the announcement at the same leadership hustings that Farage did about Question Time.

One rule for Farage, one rule for everyone else it seems.

Birmingham hustings pictures

Rather belatedly, some pictures from the UKIP leadership election hustings in Birmingham last week ...

Birmingham Hustings

I made extensive notes at last night's leadership election hustings in Birmingham.  Here's what I can make sense of from the three and a half pages of notes I made.  Observations are in italics.

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Introductions

WM
Very enthusiastic; reinvigorate branches; overcome perception as a racist party; appeal to "young kippers"; change comes from NEC and members; very funny, improve IT; communications; Commonwealth; no microphone.

DCB
Nigel said he can't do 2 jobs - EU and Westminster (not true); "safe hands"; can't keep having leadership elections; councillors important; have to contest elections; have to get out of comfort zone; "vision, experience, teamwork;, target of 20 MPs under AV+ and 30 elected peers (10%); have to be more professional; got 20k votes as a Tory PPC; enjoys media; can give fundraising advice; Frank Maloney bringing in professional fundraiser.

NF
Founder member of UKIP; election success as 2nd largest EU party; corrected DCB - said he couldn't do 3 jobs: leader, MEP & PPC; Bercow decision "went wrong"; best person to communicate policy to public; which candidate are LibLabCon scared of most? Been on Any Questions/Question time 30 times; track record of fundraising; Pearson will be chair of fundraising committee with Steve Woolfe & Jill Seymour as secretary; no discipline in party; can't put cigarette paper between LibLabCon.

TC
Hesitant; greatest threat to constitution & democracy is EU; sounds scripted; 4 leaders in 1 year "not a happy show"; MEPs don't have time to deal with branches; don't want to be a one man band; don't want to be an MEP; 4 year plan; will set up London office part funded himself; "candidate for change"; "want my country back".

Commonwealth


WM
Introduced 8 country Commonwealth forum to UKIP.

NF
Appalling to break links; free trade with Commonwealth.

DCB
Future is India; EU has dwindling share of world economy free trade.

TC
Free trade; argument for EU common market no longer valid as no more high tariffs from Commonwealth.

Electoral Pact/Not standing against eurosceptics


NF
Priority is to get 646 good candidates; never been any secret deals; no leader could say never form electoral pact.

DCB
Will not wear blue rosette or write to papers undermining our candidates; sell policies.

TC
No secret deals; something must have happened because papers said so!

WM
Members should decide.

Domestic Issues


DCB
Wrote manifesto; common sense policies; lower taxes; immigration.

TC
EU is central policy; need domestic policies; "freedom, fairness, patriotism"; only British patriotism; "believing in Britain".

WM
Reinvigorate branches; communication Branch > NEC > Leader; break members apathy; clear line of communication through party.

NF
Was told UKIP was a 1 trick pony, then a 2 trick pony, nobody says that any more; local issue (Thanet wind farm) got him invited onto Question Time (not any more, thanks to DCB).

Referendum - disband?


TC
Plan for next 4 years; if we leave party celebrate but carry on.

WM
We can't leave EU without Shadow Cabinet and MPs; why disband when we have MPs? (popular with the members)

NF
Used to think so but MPs don't have patriotic bone in body; "I'll be blown if I give my country back to scoundrels that sold us out".

DCB
Swiss referenda are the only thing keeping Switzerland out of EU; finish off europhiles once and for all.

Most media savvy


WM
"Nigel's almost as good as me!"; been on radio a lot; "I'm showbiz".

NF
Doing Question Time difficult; media appearances not about surviving, "about dominating, being nimble, being fast, thinking on your feet"; unparalleled media experience.

DCB
NF stay as media representative; need more faces on media or party looks small; trained in media handling.

TC
Says he's "good on television"; acknowledged expert on public policy; former journalist; "I'm the media savvyist of this lot".

Biggest weakness and how to turn into a strength


NF
Intolerance; don't suffer fools gladly; getting in barrister to change constitution so it isn't at odds with party rules.

DCB
City being destroyed (answering wrong question!)

TC
Vain; have a team that can criticise me; never resent criticism.

WM
Women! NF is an inspiration; ex-fighter; members views important.

What will failed candidates do to support winner?


DCB
Whatever asked; loyal to party.

TC
Nobody offered me a job; fight cause for the rest of my life.

WM
Offered job to all candidates including TC (TC apologised); "groundwork, time, dedication, glory, cause"; action speaks louder than words.

NF
Role for all 3; WM ambassador for Commonwealth; would loyally support winner.

Devolution (my question)


TC
Devolution = subsume into EU; federal arrangement; no independence.

WM
No independence; galvanise and come together; work together.

NF
UKIP have underplayed Englishness for too long; party policy is right; another layer of politicians; want less politicians (gave me an "I know that you know that I know it's wrong" look)

DCB
We lost 300k votes to EDP; supports Grand Committees instead of devolution; want St Georges Day bank holiday.

Extremist


WM
"Simple - elect me as your leader!"

NF
Took libel action against the Times on 1st day as MEP for associating him and UKIP with BNP; 10% BME candidates last year.

DCB
We represent view of majority; reinforce links with Commonwealth.

TC
Membership form should say if you are found to commit racist activity you will be expelled (disapproving murmurs)

Quantative Easing


NF
Great fear of deflation but are we ready for more QE? Americans practising extreme Keynesian economics; defer to TC on QE.

DCB
Defer to TC on QE; China & India will have resource war; have to be disciplined & anticipate inflation sadly.

TC
Government required banks to shrink balance sheet which caused recession; advocated QE and partly reason why it happened; no worries of inflation at the moment; advocates 0.5% QE per month.

WM
QE was a stopgap; nobody knows what to do; no need for QE; need to create industry.

WM County Committee 9 point plan improve party


DCB
Welcome feedback; suggestions should go to party board subject to NEC.

TC
Agree we need small government; branches have been neglected; leader should write to branch chairmen regularly.

WM
Want us to make news; need leader with profound understanding of community.

NF
Not enough direction from centre; Staffs is an example of UKIP success and probably be first branch to get UKIP MP; clear goals.

Unite factions


TC
4 year plan

WM
Shadow cabinet; raise profile; put EU on the side.

NF
Address churn; need to have continuous campaigns; promote new media; ask dissidents "are you with us?"

DCB
Promise to look at NF's plan when elected.

Sum up


TC
We will leave EU; most people want to leave; put pressure on political class; need change; experience of building up business; uninspiring.

NF
Crash - "lucky, given 2nd chance, want 2nd chance of leading UKIP"; sadly all about personality politics now; opponents fear NF most; not afraid of anybody; will delegate management and just lead party.

DCB
Wrong to criticise manifesto as too long; "New UKIP"; place in team for all candidates; keep NF as face of party; vote DCB get NF as well.

WM
Read manifesto - "freedom of action, freedom of resources, freedom of the people", "I will not wilt, I will not fail to deliver".

---

That's my notes, now my own summing up:

Winston was hilarious, a real breath of fresh air and extremely passionate and enthusiastic.  A very good public speaker.  He doesn't stand a chance, sadly, but he's a good guy.

Tim Congdon was a poor speaker, hesitant and monotonous.  Doesn't seem to be able to see beyond the EU issue.

Nigel Farage was ... Nigel Farage.  Exactly what you'd expect - good public speaker, knowledgeable and funny.

David Campbell Bannerman was a strong public speaker and quick with his answers.  Spoke about loyalty to the party then dumped on the party to get one over on Farage.

At the start of the hustings, Congdon got the most applause (as expected given that the West Mids is Nikki Sinclaire territory and her supporters are behind Congdon).  By the end he got the least.  Winston got the most applause at the end of the night.

So who was the winner at the Birmingham hustings?  Using the incredibly scientific method of listening to the amount of applause the candidates were getting, it swung from Congdon-DCB-Farage-Winston to Winston-Farage-DCB-Congdon.  Winston got his applause for his personality rather than his leadership credentials so the winner by the end was Farage.

DCB and the politics of envy

During the leadership election hustings in Birmingham tonight David Campbell Bannerman said, more than once, that he was loyal to the party.  When all the candidates were asked if they would deal with the leader should they lose the election, DCB said once again that he was loyal to the party and would do whatever the leader asked of him.

So imagine everyone's surprise when Nigel got a phone call from the press office following the hustings telling him that the BBC had removed him from the panel on tomorrow's Question Time programme because David Campbell Bannerman had complained that they were giving him airtime during the leadership election.

Tomorrow's Question Time is about the huge new wind farm at Thanet which UKIP is opposing, not about the leadership election.  Nigel would have been to token anti-windmill panel member and was chosen ahead of a Green Party spokesman.  Now UKIP will be denied the publicity that Question Time always brings and the programme will probably go ahead without someone credible speaking out against the global warming scam.  So much for party loyalty.

But loyalty to members and the cause is more important than loyalty to the party and that's why DCB is even more out of order in making this petty complaint.  While the other candidates were chatting to members, listening to their views and giving them more detail on their campaigns, DCB was in the car park complaining to the BBC.

DCB started the hustings with a personal attack on Farage and finished with an attack on Farage.  Another own goal from Team DCB.

Candidate support banners

UKIPpers can support their favourite candidate on forums and websites with the following banners:

There are no banners from the DCB or McKenzie camp yet, I may have to make them myself in the interests of fairness if they don't hurry up!

Next job: sidebar buttons.