5th October 2004

Gloom, doom and despondency amongst UKIP supporters.

After the glare of the media following their weekend conference, morale amongst UKIP members has plummeted according to some of our East Midlands based friends within that party. This follows the news released earlier today that multi-millionaire backer Paul Sykes is to transfer his support away from the anti-EU pressure group back to the beleaguered Tories.

Mr. Sykes is reportedly “concerned” over Kilroy-Silk’s much publicised intention of wanting to “kill the Conservative Party” - a declaration that has caused many to question the ex-Labour MP’s motivation for supporting UKIP. It comes as no surprise to those who openly have pointed out that despite Kilroy-Silk’s new found sense of “national pride” and outspoken nature on asylum and EU issues, he continues to write for his boss, one Richard Desmond. Desmond who made his millions by exploiting vulnerable women and selling porn is a personal friend of Prime Minister Blair and a Labour donor to the tune of £100,000.

Mixed political ambitions or an obvious goal?

Quite why a friend of New Labour, yet who silently approves that his “Daily Express” title should support a New Tory way of thinking should also allow a man who has been accused of being a “racist” and a “hatemonger” is anyone’s guess. The more political astute amongst the electorate may have already made their own conclusions and the suggestion that the UKIP has been hi-jacked by those whose first loyalty is to the Labour Party as a means to derail any realistic Tory opposition at the next General Election has already been mooted amongst UKIP circles.

He may have “been here” but what did he want? A question on the lips of many a UKIP supporter!

Election disaster

This development follows on from UKIP’s poor showing in the recent Hartlepool by-election where their share of the vote plummeted from over 20% in June to just over 10% - the only saving grace being that the Tories share of the vote collapsed even further leaving UKIP in a poor third place.

Now that the euphoria over being slightly less unpopular than the Tories has subsided, cold realism has set in with a vengeance, as activists recall the heady days of August when leading party bigwigs were declaring that “they had a real chance of taking the seat - failing that of coming a close second”!

UKIP self-destruction

To make matters even worse, the party is now about to embark on a voyage of self-destruction as Kilroy-Silk’s supporters sharpen their political axes to do battle to wrest control of the party away from its present traditional but lacklustre leadership.

Real progress at local level

In contrast the BNP, away from the unwelcome glare of the camera crews continues quietly along - doing what it is increasingly good at doing - building local support and winning council seats.