By
James Kirkup, Political Editor, The Telegraph
Ed Miliband's hopes of winning next year’s general election were seriously
undermined by the UK Independence Party’s surge in the local and European
elections on Friday.
Nigel Farage proclaimed that Ukip had become a “serious player” in British
politics after it managed to win council seats in traditional Labour
strongholds – and areas which Mr Miliband must secure if he is to become
prime minister.
Previously, Ukip’s major advances had largely been at the expense of the
Conservatives, who also continued to suffer in the latest polls.
The development saw Labour MPs openly attacking their leader with members of
the shadow cabinet at odds over how to counter the emerging Ukip threat.
Opposition leaders have won previous mid-term local elections by large margins
but Labour’s position has deteriorated since 2012.
Nigel Farage celebrates with two supporters during a visit to Basildon, Essex
(PA)
The local elections saw Ukip gain more than 150 council seats in both Labour
and Conservative heartlands – including some key marginal areas of Essex.
The Liberal Democrats suffered humiliation in several areas.
Mr Farage said he was confident of winning the European elections, the results
of which are announced on Sunday evening.
The “Ukip fox is in the Westminster hen house”, Mr Farage declared. “There are
areas of the country where now we have got an imprint in local government,”
he said. “This party is going to break through into the Westminster
parliament next year.”
David Cameron insisted that he understood the “frustration” of those turning
to Mr Farage’s party.
Conservative Cabinet ministers suggested that more would be done to introduce
policies to limit immigration and renegotiate Britain’s relationship with
the European Union.
However, the Prime Minister ruled out forming any pact with Ukip before the
general election and senior Conservatives remained privately hopeful that
disaffected voters would back the Tories in next year’s poll.
Boris Johnson, the London mayor, said: “It’s very striking that Labour does
not seem to have made anything like the gains you would expect at this
stage. I certainly wouldn’t be measuring up the curtains for Downing Street
if I were Ed Miliband.”
Ukip’s surge into Labour areas led to apparent turmoil among senior opposition
figures over how to respond to the threat posed by Mr Farage.
One Labour frontbencher described the party’s response to the results as
“farcical”.
He said: “The results aren’t all that bad, but we can’t even
agree on what to say about them or about Ukip so we look ridiculous.”
“The leadership have been trying to say that everything is fine,” another
source said.
“But there is a lot of anger towards Ed Miliband and his team.
Things are not going as well as they should be.”
However Mr Miliband said the party had done well. “I think we ran a good
campaign” Mr Miliband insisted. “I believe that we can persuade people that
Labour can offer answers.”
But Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, said Labour was not doing well enough.
“It’s not good enough yet for Labour. We’ve got more to do if we’re going to
really win the argument.”
Labour gained more than 270 council seats and won control of local authorities
from the Conservatives in London and Derbyshire, also gaining the largest
share of the vote.
But Ukip gains helped deny Labour victory in Thurrock in Essex, one of its top
targets for next year’s general election. Mr Miliband’s party also fell
short in key councils such as Swindon, Walsall and Tamworth, and failed to
take Trafford from the Tories.
One of the results that did most to shake Labour was in Rotherham, South
Yorkshire, a traditional Labour stronghold where Ukip took 10 council seats.
Pollsters believe that Ukip is making inroads in many areas because of its
anti-immigration policies. But Mr Miliband pointedly failed to mention the
issue on Friday, suggesting Ukip voters were mainly unhappy about the
economy.
By contrast, several members of his shadow cabinet, including Andy Burnham,
the shadow health secretary, and Mr Balls said Labour was not seen as tough
enough on immigration.
John Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire said that Mr Miliband had
taken a “disastrous” decision to ignore Ukip’s appeal to Labour voters and
not confront Mr Farage’s party, blaming “pointy heads at the top of the
party” who believed Ukip only threatened the Tories.
Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, said Mr Miliband lacked personal
appeal among her constituents, who felt “a slight disconnect from him”.
The results showed a growing political divide between London and the rest of
the country. Labour won several key councils in the capital, while Ukip
struggled to make gains.
Related Reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment