Christmas Newsletter

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP will be joining the campaign trail in Oldham East & Saddleworth as part of our ‘big push’ between Christmas and the New Year. This is especially vital as the election will take place on 13th January, three weeks earlier than previously expected, as announced in the last newsletter.

The most important dates in the whole campaign are now 27th-30th December. A by-election is quite different from a regular election campaign in that a much higher percentage of the votes cast will be postal votes.

The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Turnout is lower at a by-election than at a General Election – many people don’t ‘bother’ to vote if they’re not voting for a new government.

2. When turnout is low, postal voters are more likely to vote than non-postal voters. Once someone has already taken the trouble to apply for a postal vote, it is very unlikely that they won’t use it.

3. In this particular by-election, a January polling day makes it likely that bad weather could cause low turnout.

Indeed, some political commentators have even suggested that more than half of all votes cast at this election might be by post. The election could effectively be decided already by polling day!

I would like therefore to make another appeal for anyone who is able to come and help with the campaign, with the 27th-30th December being particularly important dates. Free accommodation is available near the office (bring a sleeping bag and a towel) and there are reasonably-priced B&Bs nearby for those who want a little bit more comfort.

The office address is 173 Lees Road, Oldham, OL4 1JP and is generally open 7 days a week (excepting the obvious – Christmas Day, etc) so there will always be someone available to keep volunteers busy! If you are able to come down, it would be useful to let Pete Reeve know in advance on 07792 290434.

As this will of course be the last Newsletter before Christmas, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas – and of course a Happy New Year!

Yours,


Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

Response to the Sunday Telegraph ‘value for money’ survey about MEPs

Gawain Towler has issued the statement below:

Congratulations to the Earl of Dartmouth on coming second in the Sunday Telegraph ‘Value for money’ table of MEPs. He and Gerard Batten, Derek Clark, John Bufton and Marta Andreasen, are all in the top twenty for specific policy based reasons. William has been working on the International Trade Committee where unusually votes are on a continuous knife edge and British interests need defending on a day to day basis. Gerard has been following the areas of immigration and the European Arrest Warrant; Derek Clark on employment legislation and the Working Time Directive and John Bufton on big spending Regional Development; and Marta Andreasen has been working hard on fighting Cameron's appalling complicity on the EU budget and all the waste and graft in Brussels.

But this table should be taken with a pinch of salt, as the methodology of the study is largely about scoring those who are positively engaged with the EU highly. So that means those who waste their time writing reports and turning up at innumerable committee meetings, and disappearing on foreign trips euphemistically called fact-finding missions, score far more highly than those who get on with the job of representing their constituents.

So you find other UKIP MEPs at the other end of the table, like Paul Nuttall and Godfrey Bloom who spend their time in the UK fighting the good fight at home and on the airwaves.

So the whole Votematch.eu survey shows that UKIP are doing what they were elected to do, some in holding the EU to account over its profligacy, such as Marta, and others doing what the UKIP membership always demand and spending their time in the UK spreading the word.

All in all, it shows how UKIP is making the most of the political opportunities provided by election to the European Parliament, whilst never neglecting their duties at home.

A message from the Party Leader

As 2010 draws to a close, we can certainly say that UKIP has had an up-and-down year. The same assuredly applies to me!

Whilst many were disappointed with the result of the General Election, we must remember how significantly higher our vote was, than in 2005, despite little or no public discussion of the EU. Six months on, we can see that a great many of UKIP's predictions about the EU are coming true, and that our political potential as a party has never been greater.

Our first opportunity to fight on this basis comes with the by-election at Oldham East and Saddleworth, on 13 January.

It is vital that we support our excellent candidate, Paul Nuttall, with funds and physical help, because the result of this by-election will have a major impact on the public's perception of UKIP for many months to come.

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas.


Nigel Farage MEP

UKIP SCORES 18.5% IN KENT ELECTION

UKIP candidate Victor Matcham has just scored 18.5% in a by-election for Dover Town Council, as well as 14.3% for Dover District Council and 11.8% for the Dover seat on Kent County Council. In the County Council contest, he beat the Lib-Dem candidate.
On the same day, UKIP’s Victor Webb took 10.4% in the Sherwood ward in Tunbridge Wells, coming in only 32 votes behind Labour.

Lord Monckton to head new Policy Unit

The new Leadership team taking shape, with Lord Monckton appointed Head of a new Policy Unit, which also includes Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall, Head of Research Abhijit Pandya and Bruges Group author Jeremy Nieboer.

The Policy Unit’s first task will be to review the 2010 manifesto and deliver a new ‘mini-manifesto’ or statement of our key policies, which will be published in the Spring.
A number of Party spokesmen have been appointed, to raise our profile across the political scene. These include a ‘front bench’ panel of five key figures – Nigel Farage, Paul Nuttall, Lord Monckton, Godfrey Bloom and Marta Andreasen – who will be primarily putting our message across, plus a panel of specialists to tackle key policy areas.