UK General Election 2015

[BigAdz]

Farage leaving will sound the beginning of the end for UKIP, IMO. Anyone else won't present the same views with the same aplomb.

Great orator, but clearly not a politician.

Too many times I saw interviews where, having spoken most eloquently he then added grimaces/funny faces, or if out and about, if someone added a daft question, his guard would drop and he would round on them.

Obviously not got the proper turn the other cheek grounding of the other leaders, who could go for days with the tefal approach to insults and daft questions.

Not necessarily leaving. Resigning for now and will decide later if he stands for the leadership again in September.

Hope so.

Whilst a true Blue(protest vote against my local guy on local issues, who has a 20k plus majority, but it made me feel good) I have enjoyed watching the ride with Farage, and I think he has something to offer.

[muckthenuts]

Farage loses by a couple thousand, in Thanet.

Is it 1 of 2 for the UKIP job, Tighty?

Carswell is the only MP

Suzanne Evans is genuinely impressive. would be the candidate more likely to win them seats in 2020

Had a bet on her @ 5/1 last night.

Hopefully Carswell sees sense, and lets her take Farage's spot

UKIP are second in 118 seats.

all sorts of implications from that, but political system aside, they've made real progress (which doesn't please me, but i think is a fact).

made the most progress from Labour voters, too

will take some time to work all this out!

I think a significant amount of the UKIP votes are pure protest votes. I know two guys in strong Labour seats who voted UKIP but have no allegiance to their views or policies. They came second in large numbers of seats for that reason.

I don't think they will ever gain any real power.

I think that's a pretty dangerous view. I think only a few few few are the protest votes you describe.

Really? Feels like basically ALL the people i know/know of who vote UKIP did so based exclusively on their anti-EU and tougher immigration policies. Not because they thought UKIP would gain any real power, but to show that they wanted some change on this issue. The new government isn't really going to have a choice but to take heed of how many votes UKIP gained in this election so i suppose it works.  

[MelissaChloe]

I predict that Nigel Farage resigning will be bad for the UKIP campaign in the future. Whilst I would never vote UKIP purely cause I am very pro EU, my opinion has changed of him towards the positive throughout the run-up to this election and he does talk sense on a lot of policies. I'm not sure who would be able to lead UKIP and stir up British politics in the way that he has. Like BigAdz said above, without Farage, it might be the beginning of the end for them.

Also such a shame about Nick Clegg resigning too. I do think he is a good leader and there don't seem to be any clear candidates that will step up for the Liberal Democrats. People have been very hard on them this election.

I think Harriet Harman would be a great Labour leader and I think the outcome would have been quite different today if she was leading instead of Ed Milliband.

Having said all this, I'm very much a Tory supporter so obviously thrilled with the result of this election  

[George2Loose]

Who will be deputy PM now?

Boris?

[TightEnd]

I predict that Nigel Farage resigning will be bad for the UKIP campaign in the future. Whilst I would never vote UKIP purely cause I am very pro EU, my opinion has changed of him towards the positive throughout the run-up to this election and he does talk sense on a lot of policies. I'm not sure who would be able to lead UKIP and stir up British politics in the way that he has. Like BigAdz said above, without Farage, it might be the beginning of the end for them.

Hi

look at Suzanne Evans

serious politician, all the conviction of Farage without the pantomime elements

[TightEnd]

agree with this?

"Labour seems to be blaming David Cameron for the rise of the SNP. Incredible. No. It started when Tony Blair let the devolution genie out of the bottle. It continued with Labour taking its vote in Scotland for granted, and culminated in the terrible Better Together campaign. This is a problem of their own making and it’s about time someone said it."

[George2Loose]

Farage has hardly resigned. I'd expect him to run again and win especially with the impending referendum in 2017.

Really interesting times. Huge revamp of Labour and Lib Dem and how will the tories cope with such a small majority?

[TightEnd]

i think history will treat Clegg far better than we think currently

basically had to stuff his party for the national good by going into coalition where there was no maths that allowed for another coalition. didn't have too much choice and clearly, i think, was a positive influence as deputy prime minster from 2010-2015

good politician, decent man.

[DaveShoelace]

Who will be deputy PM now?

Boris?

Would be a good move IMO. This election has shown that personalities are very important in politics (Milliband's lack of) and the British public either love, or are at least entertained by, Boris in the same way we are Prince Phillip.

[TightEnd]

Who will be deputy PM now?

Boris?

party chairman i would think

teresa may foreign secretary for the eu negotiations

osborne chancellor

one of those two deputy PM

those 3 fight for the leadership in 2019-20 when cameron steps aside

[BigAdz]

I predict that Nigel Farage resigning will be bad for the UKIP campaign in the future. Whilst I would never vote UKIP purely cause I am very pro EU, my opinion has changed of him towards the positive throughout the run-up to this election and he does talk sense on a lot of policies. I'm not sure who would be able to lead UKIP and stir up British politics in the way that he has. Like BigAdz said above, without Farage, it might be the beginning of the end for them.

Hi

look at Suzanne Evans

serious politician, all the conviction of Farage without the pantomime elements

IMO its his "pantomime elements" that make him so successful. Makes him seem closer to one of us. They don't all have to be sheep dipped in whatever politicians are Sheep dipped in for them to resonate.

[TightEnd]

I predict that Nigel Farage resigning will be bad for the UKIP campaign in the future. Whilst I would never vote UKIP purely cause I am very pro EU, my opinion has changed of him towards the positive throughout the run-up to this election and he does talk sense on a lot of policies. I'm not sure who would be able to lead UKIP and stir up British politics in the way that he has. Like BigAdz said above, without Farage, it might be the beginning of the end for them.

Hi

look at Suzanne Evans

serious politician, all the conviction of Farage without the pantomime elements

IMO its his "pantomime elements" that make him so successful. Makes him seem closer to one of us. They don't all have to be sheep dipped in whatever politicians are Sheep dipped in for them to resonate.

but to go from here to winning more seats away from the east coast (labour seats in the north apart, the east coast is where the votes piled up) you need someone more serious imo

Evans is good.

[MelissaChloe]

I do agree that Farage's pantomime elements are what made me dislike him at first and not be able to take him seriously. He reminded me of my old boss and he was a complete clown. Not someone I would trust to run a country.

The time I actually started to come round to him was when I heard him in a Q&A thing on TV, where he was in a more serious mood and I actually listened to what he was saying rather than just watching his antics. Had I have not seen that side to Farage, I would still very much dislike him.


Would be happy with Boris or Theresa May for deputy PM and eventually leader of the Conservative party. I like Boris for deputy now but would probably prefer Theresa May as leader in 5 years time.

[DaveShoelace]

This has been a really good thread btw, well done gang, good civilised debate.

[Woodsey]

i think history will treat Clegg far better than we think currently

basically had to stuff his party for the national good by going into coalition where there was no maths that allowed for another coalition. didn't have too much choice and clearly, i think, was a positive influence as deputy prime minster from 2010-2015

good politician, decent man.

Agree, I quite liked him.