Sunday 28 September 2014

Ukip the voice of the "Man in the street" . Oh really!



The Wasting Mule recently reported that UKIP plans to target voters in Labour’s heartlands in the South Wales Valleys with a dedicated branch, it

Speaking at the Eurosceptic party’s national conference in Doncaster, Nathan Gill said the party hoped to win over traditional Labour voters.

If you haven't heard of Mr Gill you could do worse than Jac's in depth profile of possibly the worst person to represent a Welsh Constituency ever and by God we have has some Lulu's


Labour “no longer represents people on the streets of Wales,” he said.

Well I can't argue with that but a party that at times looks like the heirs of Margret Thatcher is not the answer.

Despite it appears no branches inmany parts of Wales including the Valley;s In May’s European elections UKIP narrowly took fewer votes than Labour in Wales.

It topped the poll in Conwy, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham, Vale of Glamorgan and Powys and came second to Labour in four other constituencies, including Merthyr Tydfil.

Mr Gill told BBC Wales that the party’s success in traditional Labour heartlands at the last European elections was a sign of changing attitudes.

He said: 

“For too long the Labour Party has taken Wales and the people of Wales for granted.“Merthyr Tydfil like so many other towns and cities in Wales has woken to the fact that after 114 years and six Labour prime ministers, and 15 years of Labour rule in Cardiff, the Labour Party no longer speaks for or represents the man and woman on the street. 

When I was actively involved in Party Politics in the 70's and there was always talk of the Anti-Labour vote .

This consisted of those not only on the right who would vote for any party but Labour .


The trouble with this was you never truly converted them they would move from support to hostility depending if they thought you had a chance of beating the Labour candidate,

In the last General Election Amy Kitcher who has now joined Plaid saw the biggest swing from Labour in the whole of Wales.


True Dai Havard could wel be a challenge to Nathan Gill as the worst person to represent a Welsh Constituency which might be behind this swing.

But Methyr has been let down by Labour in living memory and also like many a Valley consistency has seen Cardiff Creep where people move from our beloved capital where there's cheaper housing and they can commute.

Recently Cardiff Creep might well be the reason or support for the Liberal Democrats as they took that Parties vigorous campaigning with them.

Will they now change to Ukip or can Plaid seize the initiative in Merthyr and the other Valleys.


If the recent Independence Referendum taught us any thing positive campaigning in working class areas can bear results.


The SNP itslef must have been amazed as the YES campaign went beyond their own campaign in places like Glasgow and maybe even more amazed that even after a NO vote the campaign saw a huge increase to that Parties membership .

With another right wing Tory defecting to Ukip yesterday they might find it difficult to don flat caps and be the pretend to speaks for or represents the man and woman on the street.

But it is up to the other Parties to offer another voice than that of the coastal resorts of Southern England.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For those who think UKIP will win Merthyr & Rhymney in 2015, here’s a few things to think about

Firstly if you’re targeting Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney why are UKIP opening an office in the Rhondda?

Second there was a local by election earlier this year in the Penderryn ward in Merthyr Tydfil that was held by UKIP, yet UKIP couldn’t find a candidate to stand and they lost the seat to Labour, does it suggest a lack of local activists maybe?

Thirdly Dai Havard or Dai Basra as he known locally standing down is a blessing in disguise, he’s not liked by a majority of the local Labour Party never mind the wider electorate in Merthyr & Rhymney, a new candidate makes it easier for the local CLP to get back lost Labour voters, who have stayed away from the polls or voted for Independents while Havard has been the MP.

Fourth despite UKIP coming within 700 votes of Labour in May’s European election they still polled more than 4,500 lees than Amy Kitcher did in the 2010 General Election.

I don’t say UKIP have no chance and if the voters in Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney think UKIP would give them the best representation then that’s their democratic choice, but it proves the bigging up of UKIP in the Valleys is more a media story than anything based in fact.