Ukip's only MP could be sacked by Monday, says party leader Nigel Farage

[muriel_volestrangler]

Because why should the Tories and Labour have all the fun of party splits?

”We find somebody inside our party who doesn't agree with anything the party stands for, it's a very odd state of affairs.“

The comments came in response to an attack on the party leader launched by Mr Carswell over Ukip’s controversial “Breaking Point” posters, which depicted large queues of refugees attempting to get into Europe.
...
Asked if Mr Carswell would be expelled from Ukip as a consequence, he said: “That will be up to the NEC to decide”.

Mr Carswell told The Independent it was the first he’d heard of it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukips-only-mp-could-be-sacked-by-monday-says-party-leader-nigel-farage-a7114526.html

[Denzil_DC]

1. Add to that:

Leave donor plans new party to replace Ukip – possibly without Farage in charge

The Brexit campaign’s biggest financial donor has said he is considering backing a new political party taking in members of Ukip, Labour and the Conservatives.

In a sign that the referendum aftershocks already rocking the Conservative and Labour parties could be spreading to Ukip, the insurance multi-millionaire and Ukip funder Arron Banks criticised the party’s growth and proposed harnessing Brexit support in a new party. When asked if Farage would be in charge, he said the Ukip leader “may have had enough ... And by the way, going out at the top is a good way in politics.”

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/29/leave-donor-plans-new-party-to-replace-ukip-without-farage

It would be fun to see the right splinter for a change, and for Farage to be ousted and/or sidelined in his moment of glory.

But that has to be tempered with the prospect of the sort of alliance Banks has in mind, which could capitalize on the vacuum Labour's leaving at the moment.

It might superficially sound like a reversion to the sort of UKIP Alan Sked had in mind when he founded the party - Sked is well known to be horrified with the direction Farage has taken UKIP, from an intellectual critique of the EU to one that relies heavily on racist tropes and glib solutions, much as it might embarrass a minority of its more prominent members. But looking at the horrible propaganda Banks's Leave.EU put out, that seems unduly optimistic.

And if you look at Banks's background, he's the very definition of "the elite" - just one that nobody's ever voted for.

[Ken Burch]

11. If Brexit has won, why is a pro-Brexit party even needed?

n/t.

[Denzil_DC]

15. To hold their feet to the fire? n/t

[Ken Burch]

16. Do they still HAVE feet? n/t.

[T_i_B]

2. Carswell will just scuttle back to the Tories

And voters in Clacton will follow him.

[Ken Burch]

5. Will the Tories take him though?

It's not as though he hasn't given them reasons to distrust him.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Probably. It's not as though there were that many people they COULD trust at the moment

They might not make him a minister, but I'm sure they'd have him back.

[RogueTrooper]

8. I'm sure one of the leadership candidates would welcome him back

The sooner the better for some of them.

[T_i_B]

7. If they can accept Phillip Davies and Peter Bone....

...they can welcome Carswell back, who would at least have the advantage of a decent sized personal following in his constituency.

[LeftishBrit]

3. UKIP, the party that can have a massive party split with only one MP!

UKIP is not a very coherently defined party in fact.. It includes frank racists, all-round nutters, single-issue Europhobes, and a certain element that corresponds roughly to what Americans would call Libertarians. I suppose Carswell would be in the last group, and though I disagree with him on just about everything, I would not regard him as a racist or as insanely vicious.

Anyway if he and Farage want to form a circular firing squad, who am I to wish to stop them?

[Ken Burch]

10. I suppose we could call the Farage loyalists "The Suicidal Tendency".

:eye:

[RogueTrooper]

4. "Could", “That will be up to the NEC to decide”.

Says Nigel Farage.

[RogueTrooper]

13. Well, got that one wrong...

Nigel has resigned (again). Let's see how long it lasts this time.

[Ken Burch]

9. Is it possible Carswell will resign from the HoC(forcing a byelection)

And then fight the byelection against UKIP as a Tory or independent candidate(in order to try and humiliate UKIP by making it risk losing the seat in the immediate post-referendum backlash)?

From what all of you know of Carswell, is he capable of being that vindictive?

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. I don't know much about him, but I'd guess he'd be more likely to just hold the seat

if UKIP expel him. When he move to UKIP and resigned the seat, that was to prove that UKIP could win a by election; having then been the only one they won in the general election (and he pointed out that he got dodgy posters taken down during the general election:

"But thirdly, angry nativism does not win elections in this country".

He said he knew this because while campaigning in his Clacton constituency during the general election he had ordered that all "nativist posters were taken down" and "it's the one seat we won in that general election".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-nigel-farage-eu-referendum-results-campaign-live-latest-douglas-carswell-ukip-mp-a7098896.html

), I would think he has shown he can win the seat, and another by-election wouldn't prove anything more (plus voters can get sick of votes; they've already elected him 3 times in the last 7 years, plus the EU referendum. Making them have yet another on a point of principle or vindictiveness might not go down well). Whether he'd rejoin the Tories, I don't know - depends on whether he wants to stick his own oar into the current fight (not that I think he'd have great influence), or wait until a new leader is clear. And some of his constituency party will blame him anyway, and won't want him back.

[LeftishBrit]

14. And now Farage has resigned as UKIP leader!

Whether in connection with the party row, or just 'well, I certainly conned you suckers; now I'm marching off in self-bestowed triumph and letting you all deal with the mess!' I'm not sure.

[non sociopath skin]

17. Who'd have guessed it would have been The Lad 'Imself who went the journey?

Still staying at Strasbourg, though. Somebody has to pay his Beer and Baccy Bill ... and it might as well be us ...

The Skin