politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Farage’s “unresignation” makes him and his party look stupi

isam said:

Farage the best man for the job and has got the job

Great news for Ukip, bad news for everyone else.. Hence the anger from other party followers

Happy Monday!

I don't see any anger, more incredulity and laughter. In an "Ed is Crap" kind of way.

We PB Tories kept saying "Ed is Crap" - because he was. In the same way Farage is past his Best Before date. If UKIP had any credibility then "thank you for your service" would have been the reaction to Farage's reaction.

I agree with Richard, BOO is supposed to be bigger than one man. Is there nobody else that could have taken on the job? Just makes him and the party a joke. Something to point and laugh at now that Ed is Crap has gone.

HYUFD said:

Philip Thompson Rubbish, latest yougov polls already show In only has a 9% lead, even less than No won by in indyref, unlike the LDs UKIP are not in coalition with the government. Farage's strategy to win the EU Parliament elections and then get an EU referendum with as high an Out vote as possible follows Salmond's strategy of winning the Holyrood elections and then getting an independence referendum with as high a Yes vote as possible

Farage, like Salmond, is a marmite character, you either love him or hate him, but both have charisma undoubtedly

Well it's a YouGov poll. The only people who believe then are seriously deluded people like Ed Miliband.

Soory to be so rude.. but they have zero credibility.

Silly, silly Nigel. Looks to me like he's scared someone else might do a really good job and take it away from him permanently. A great shame, now would have been a good time to go.

One thing that continues to astound me is (some of) the left's absolute hatred towards anyone who doesn't conform to their narrow, hfar left, no offense must ever, ever be caused to anyone mindset that manifests itself both in real life and online.

See: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/11/alan-sugar-resigns-from-labour-party-over-shift-to-left for another example.

Farage is fantastic, just as Hague was fantastic, but even better when freed from the leadership.

HYUFD said:

Philip Thompson Rubbish, latest yougov polls already show In only has a 9% lead, even less than No won by in indyref, unlike the LDs UKIP are not in coalition with the government. Farage's strategy to win the EU Parliament elections and then get an EU referendum with as high an Out vote as possible follows Salmond's strategy of winning the Holyrood elections and then getting an independence referendum with as high a Yes vote as possible

Farage, like Salmond, is a marmite character, you either love him or hate him, but both have charisma undoubtedly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekQ_Ja02gTY

You can not be serious. Incidentally Yes2AV started with massive majorities in the opinion polls but lost by 2 to 1 too.

EDIT: And to compare "winning the Euro elections" to winning the Holyrood elections and becoming the Scottish government is absurd. Salmond became Scottish First Minister - if Farage was EU President then things would be different.

Ilford North declaration.

Unusually it includes a hug between the Labour and Tory candidates:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCycz6RHIzY

Philip_Thompson said:

isam said:

Farage the best man for the job and has got the job

Great news for Ukip, bad news for everyone else.. Hence the anger from other party followers

Happy Monday!

I don't see any anger, more incredulity and laughter. In an "Ed is Crap" kind of way.

We PB Tories kept saying "Ed is Crap" - because he was. In the same way Farage is past his Best Before date. If UKIP had any credibility then "thank you for your service" would have been the reaction to Farage's reaction.

I agree with Richard, BOO is supposed to be bigger than one man. Is there nobody else that could have taken on the job? Just makes him and the party a joke. Something to point and laugh at now that Ed is Crap has gone.

There are plenty of people who could take on the job of leading an out campaign both inside UKIP and out. The trouble is that UKIP are seen as the party of Out and as such will be given a large slice of the media time, money and various Electoral Commission rulings when the referendum approaches. With the right person in charge this would not necessarily be a bad thing. The BOO campaign could form up around a UKIP core and there is plenty of talent outside of the party who could help. Unfortunately with Farage in charge not only will many of them not help but Farage will alienate large swathes of the potential vote.

Just as importantly there is a basic problem with UKIP's current position on post exit status. We need to have a position that we will move to EEA/EFTA membership at least in the short term. This would greatly reassure business and would give the public a clear picture of what a post Brexit relationship with Europe would look like. As long as UKIP hold a position that we will not join EFTA then we are going to struggle to persuade voters that Brexit is the right move.

I see David Miliband has ruled himself out of the leadership, while saying both Brown and his brother failed to meet the values of voters for 'aspiration and inclusion'

currystar said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

nigel4england said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

nigel4england said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

From the UKIP statement

The NEC also concluded that UKIP’s general election campaign had been a great success.

How the heck is a net loss of one MP a great success?

How is going from 3% to 13% not a success?

It is all about winning seats.

You had two incumbents, and Reckless, to quote someone here, was up against the inept Kelly Tolhurst

How did he manage to lose that.

For a fledgling party it's all about winning vote share, which will be transformed into seats at a later date.

How do you feel about UKIP being the only challengers to Labour in the North?

I nearly voted Tory for the first time, if I lived in a marginal I probably would have done, however arrogant egotistical twats like you are always there to remind me not to.

UKIP are the only challengers to Labour in the North eh?

If you ignore all those seats the Tories won, or are in second place to Labour.

And I love it when you get abusive, means you Kippers have lost the argument.

Funny coming from someone who is happy to get abusive on a regular basis. I presume this means that you are regularly losing the argument.

Oh and by the way you should be thanking UKIP. Without them taking all those votes off Labour we would have Miliband in No 10 now. The won you the election.

Didn't Labour's vote go up by 1.4% v. 2010?

Yep and it would have been far larger had not UKIP taken so many votes off them in crucial marginals. They by an and large negated the move of many Lib Dems back to Labour.

Cant agree, the lib dems used to be the protest vote, thats how their vote collapsed so much and how they lost so many deposits. Its wasn't because of tuition fees. Lost of people used to vote Lib Dem as a protest against the big two. As soon as they went into Government the protest element was lost. It simply transfered to UKIP. If the tories had won a majority at the last election Nick Clegg would would be the Lib Dem leader with 80+ MPs and UKIP would be on 5%.

Nope wrong.

PhilipThompson The Out campaign, like the Yes campaign, are both populist campaigns driven by working and lower middle class voters which start behind in the polls and then get closer come referendum day. The AV referendum was a campaign driven by the metropolitan elite and the liberal upper middle classes which started ahead in the polls and managed to lose, a totally different story

Richard_Tyndall said:

Philip_Thompson said:

HYUFD said:

SeanF Indeed, but the EU referendum is obviously potentially as good a marketing event for UKIP as the Scottish independence referendum was for the SNP, like the SNP their best result would probably be a reasonably close defeat, a big In vote would obviously set back their campaign, an Out vote would effectively mean they had no reason to exist

The EU referendum will do as many favours to UKIP as AV did for the Lib Dems.

A bigger problem is that leaving the referendum should be a means to an end in itself (the end being leaving the EU), not a stepping stone to the success of yet another political party.

Agreed entirely. The comparisons to the SNP result seem to indicate a lack of confidence or expectation to actually win the referendum. The SNATs at least were confident of victory even if it was misguided. This is another reason I think this isn't going to end up being even close in the end.

If there isn't a serious desire to win an out vote, it isn't going to happen. It won't even be close. The mindset shouldn't be "do as good as possible and build from there" it should exclusively be "what do we do to ensure we win".

AndyJS said:

Ilford North declaration.

Unusually it includes a hug between the Labour and Tory candidates:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCycz6RHIzY

Labour MP Wes Streeting: 'I won but I felt gutted':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32672234

PhilipThompson Farage effectively became leader of the UK delegation of MEPs to the European Parliament, he was not seeking to become UK PM or EU President, Salmond became First Minister and effectively leader of the Scottish delegation of MPs at Westminster, he was not seeking to become UK PM either

HYUFD said:

PhilipThompson Farage effectively became leader of the UK delegation of MEPs to the European Parliament, he was not seeking to become UK PM or EU President, Salmond became First Minister and effectively leader of the Scottish delegation of MPs at Westminster, he was not seeking to become UK PM either

Salmond was running his government, Farage is not. The two are not the same at all.

Plus Salmond and his supporters did everything they could to win. They weren't planning on losing. SNP supporters weren't on here saying "yes but after we lose this vote ..."

Dair said:

calum said:

Alistair said:

SNP Election facts

36 of the SNP's 56 seats were won with more than 50% of the vote
Biggest win - Dundee East 61.91% (I got on this at 2/5)
Smallest vote share - Edinburgh South 33.79%
Smallest vote share to win a seat - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk 36.6% (They lost Orkeny & Shetland and Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale with a higher percentage of the vote.
The SNP got less than 40% in only 5 seats.

The Cybernits are still in meltdown mode trying to rejig the numbers every which way, to try and cling on to some form of success:

https://twitter.com/Historywoman

I think the fact that they were able to only hold onto 3 seats by relying on tactical voting is a sad indictment of how low the 3 "mainstream parties" have fallen.

Jill Stephenson and the rest of the cyberunionist thugs are just hilarious.

Most of them are doing the "multiply the turnout by the vote share" to claim SNP not legitimate representatives due to only getting 35.5% of the vote.

Quite ironic when the Tory Government only got 36.8% and that turns into 24.3%.

Sore Loserman.

MadasFish Pulpstar The final yougov for indyref had No ahead, and Kellner was predicting Tories largest party if not with a majority

calum said:

Dair said:

calum said:

Alistair said:

SNP Election facts

36 of the SNP's 56 seats were won with more than 50% of the vote
Biggest win - Dundee East 61.91% (I got on this at 2/5)
Smallest vote share - Edinburgh South 33.79%
Smallest vote share to win a seat - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk 36.6% (They lost Orkeny & Shetland and Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale with a higher percentage of the vote.
The SNP got less than 40% in only 5 seats.

The Cybernits are still in meltdown mode trying to rejig the numbers every which way, to try and cling on to some form of success:

https://twitter.com/Historywoman

I think the fact that they were able to only hold onto 3 seats by relying on tactical voting is a sad indictment of how low the 3 "mainstream parties" have fallen.

Jill Stephenson and the rest of the cyberunionist thugs are just hilarious.

Most of them are doing the "multiply the turnout by the vote share" to claim SNP not legitimate representatives due to only getting 35.5% of the vote.

Quite ironic when the Tory Government only got 36.8% and that turns into 24.3%.

I feel sorry for the poor souls who try and point out facts like this to Jill, they just get shouted down, she certainly deserves the title of the Cybernat Slayer.

Shouldn't a slayer occasionally, like, slay. Or at least win the odd battle/argument.

The title Dockside Hooker for the Cybernats might be more accurate.

Richard_Tyndall said:

Philip_Thompson said:

isam said:

Farage the best man for the job and has got the job

Great news for Ukip, bad news for everyone else.. Hence the anger from other party followers

Happy Monday!

I don't see any anger, more incredulity and laughter. In an "Ed is Crap" kind of way.

We PB Tories kept saying "Ed is Crap" - because he was. In the same way Farage is past his Best Before date. If UKIP had any credibility then "thank you for your service" would have been the reaction to Farage's reaction.

I agree with Richard, BOO is supposed to be bigger than one man. Is there nobody else that could have taken on the job? Just makes him and the party a joke. Something to point and laugh at now that Ed is Crap has gone.

There are plenty of people who could take on the job of leading an out campaign both inside UKIP and out. The trouble is that UKIP are seen as the party of Out and as such will be given a large slice of the media time, money and various Electoral Commission rulings when the referendum approaches. With the right person in charge this would not necessarily be a bad thing. The BOO campaign could form up around a UKIP core and there is plenty of talent outside of the party who could help. Unfortunately with Farage in charge not only will many of them not help but Farage will alienate large swathes of the potential vote.

Just as importantly there is a basic problem with UKIP's current position on post exit status. We need to have a position that we will move to EEA/EFTA membership at least in the short term. This would greatly reassure business and would give the public a clear picture of what a post Brexit relationship with Europe would look like. As long as UKIP hold a position that we will not join EFTA then we are going to struggle to persuade voters that Brexit is the right move.

I agree with everything except the logic of EEA/EFTA. If you do that then why bother leaving the EU in the first place, you still have to follow most of the rules but don't get a say in writing them. That's the worst of all worlds.

The main reason UKIP say we should leave is to stop the free movement of people. Free movement extends to the EEA/EFTA too and not just the EU. In which case that argument is lost.

And this is another reason Out will lose. There are too many different views on "what happens next" that become impossible to reconcile.

Michael Green may be in trouble:

https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/597809968650268672

HYUFD said:

MadasFish Pulpstar The final yougov for indyref had No ahead, and Kellner was predicting Tories largest party if not with a majority

When did Kellner predict a Tory majority?

Well, I've done my GE2015 betting accounts, and I will present them to the appropriate authority this evening. Let's just say that I am very confident that she will renew my Licence to Carry On Political Betting.

Philip Thompson Farage lives in rural Kent, Carswell represents Clacton, it is hardly Islington is it? Most of the Out voters will live in villages, small towns and suburbs, not the metropolitan big cities, the only areas which voted Yes to AV were in London, Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh and Glasgow, all cities

Oh and I think I have recommended the first winning tip of post 2015 GE

Farage next leader of Ukip 4/6... Nailed on

Hope you were all on x

Philip_Thompson said:

I agree with everything except the logic of EEA/EFTA. If you do that then why bother leaving the EU in the first place, you still have to follow most of the rules but don't get a say in writing them. That's the worst of all worlds.

The main reason UKIP say we should leave is to stop the free movement of people. Free movement extends to the EEA/EFTA too and not just the EU. In which case that argument is lost.

And this is another reason Out will lose. There are too many different views on "what happens next" that become impossible to reconcile.

Not so. There is a huge difference between EFTA and EU membership - one reason why the Norwegians and Icelandics are so opposed to EU membership.

The actual membership cost is much lower, the burden of regulation is a fraction of what we currently endure, CAP and CFP membership are excluded, political interference and the move towards political union is ended. And of course EFTA has much better trade links with the rest of the world than the EU.

The free movement of people is indeed an issue but countries like Norway are able to have controls to right to settlement (as opposed to just right to work) that are not available to EU countries. Not least the requirement to learn Norwegian.

isam said:

Oh and I think I have recommended the first winning tip of post 2015 GE

Farage next leader of Ukip 4/6... Nailed on

Hope you were all on x

Are you sure they won't void the market, though?

This just popped into my inbox...


While walking down the street one day a Member of Parliament is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter.


'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the MP.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he went down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he found himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and dressed in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They played a friendly game of golf and then dined on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it's time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and wave whilst the elevator rises....

The elevator rises and the door opens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down down to hell.

When the doors open he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ' I don't understand,' stammers the MP.



'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened? '

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, ' Yesterday we were campaigning..


Today you voted.

MP_SE said:

Michael Green may be in trouble:

https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/597809968650268672

Would be odd for the Tory Chairman to lose his job after they get back in with an unexpected majority, wouldn't it?

(Though how much of the campaign organisation was genuinely down to Shapps I wouldn't like to say!)

Pulpstar said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

Well, I've done my GE2015 betting accounts, and I will present them to the appropriate authority this evening. Let's just say that I am very confident that she will renew my Licence to Carry On Political Betting.

I sort of lost track, was just plonking down on safeish looking Conservative constituencies in the end. Have asked bookies to send me lifetime deposits and withdrawals and they look decent enough tbh now. My total stakes were a fair bit higher than I realised ^^; but I've done fine.

What is really irritating is bookies who don't let you see old bets. I can't find any way of seeing Betfair bets placed more than 3 months ago, which is ridiculous.

RT Well of course Salmond is not now technically leader of the SNP at Westminster either, that is Angus Robertson

Richard_Nabavi said:

isam said:

Oh and I think I have recommended the first winning tip of post 2015 GE

Farage next leader of Ukip 4/6... Nailed on

Hope you were all on x

Are you sure they won't void the market, though?

Does he count as next leader if he never resigned?

Dair Indeed, a review of polling methods needed

Sunil I said he was predicting leader of largest party, not a majority

The Out campaign would be mad to be led by Farage.
It needs to bind together Conservative, Labour, Scots and English. They probably won't win anyway, but just being UKIP writ large will limit their prospects.
Don't ask me who would be the best leader as I'm not intending to vote Out unless DC is completely stonewalled, which I can't see happening.
The Outer I do admire, however, is Hannan, though he's probably not well known enough.

ThomasNashe said:

So, Cameron is not going to have a deputy PM. Is this like a football team following the departure of its most legendary player, 'retiring the shirt'?

It is a non-job. The functions are perfectly well covered by the Leader of the House (and occasionally First SoS)

Richard_Tyndall said:

Philip_Thompson said:

I agree with everything except the logic of EEA/EFTA. If you do that then why bother leaving the EU in the first place, you still have to follow most of the rules but don't get a say in writing them. That's the worst of all worlds.

The main reason UKIP say we should leave is to stop the free movement of people. Free movement extends to the EEA/EFTA too and not just the EU. In which case that argument is lost.

And this is another reason Out will lose. There are too many different views on "what happens next" that become impossible to reconcile.

Not so. There is a huge difference between EFTA and EU membership - one reason why the Norwegians and Icelandics are so opposed to EU membership.

The actual membership cost is much lower, the burden of regulation is a fraction of what we currently endure, CAP and CFP membership are excluded, political interference and the move towards political union is ended. And of course EFTA has much better trade links with the rest of the world than the EU.

The free movement of people is indeed an issue but countries like Norway are able to have controls to right to settlement (as opposed to just right to work) that are not available to EU countries. Not least the requirement to learn Norwegian.

I'm not saying there's no material difference but those are all very technical differences. The ability to end the free movement of people is a very crystal clear change - while still having free movement but somewhat different is unclear. It makes it harder to give a compelling message as to why we should change. Plus the In campaign would make hay over the fact that if we went out (but into EFTA) we'd still have to obey rules the EU wrote but had no say over their writing. Referendums are typically won by the status quo if they can create fear and the arguments over that just write themselves.

Richard_Nabavi said:

isam said:

Oh and I think I have recommended the first winning tip of post 2015 GE

Farage next leader of Ukip 4/6... Nailed on

Hope you were all on x

Are you sure they won't void the market, though?

He is not the 'next' leader though is he? He is the same one. He did not resign he said and did not unresign.
He is Continuity Nigel Farage.

Richard_Nabavi said:

isam said:

Oh and I think I have recommended the first winning tip of post 2015 GE

Farage next leader of Ukip 4/6... Nailed on

Hope you were all on x

Are you sure they won't void the market, though?

God knows

I was only kidding anyway, just in a happy mood.. what larks!

Baskerville said:

The Out campaign would be mad to be led by Farage.
It needs to bind together Conservative, Labour, Scots and English. They probably won't win anyway, but just being UKIP writ large will limit their prospects.
Don't ask me who would be the best leader as I'm not intending to vote Out unless DC is completely stonewalled, which I can't see happening.
The Outer I do admire, however, is Hannan, though he's probably not well known enough.

Hannan would be a pretty good choice; I doubt they could find a Labourite (though they should try). Realistically they need 90% of UKIP, 60% of the Tories, 30% of Labour and 15% of everyone else to come with them.

SquareRoot said:

This just popped into my inbox...


While walking down the street one day a Member of Parliament is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter.
....

If you are an MP at the gates of heaven, you'd better not have a bike. All sorts of trouble.

Chameleon said:

MP_SE said:

Michael Green may be in trouble:

https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/597809968650268672

Doubt it/hope not.

I hope not too.

He's an absolute gift to Labour.

Baskerville said:

The Out campaign would be mad to be led by Farage.
It needs to bind together Conservative, Labour, Scots and English. They probably won't win anyway, but just being UKIP writ large will limit their prospects.
Don't ask me who would be the best leader as I'm not intending to vote Out unless DC is completely stonewalled, which I can't see happening.
The Outer I do admire, however, is Hannan, though he's probably not well known enough.

Who leads the campaign officially and who is seen to be leading are not the same thing.

Farage will dominate the debate, be invited on the TV and regularly be used for soundbites.

How many people know that the Chief Executive of Yes Scotland was Blair Jenkins and the Chairman was Dennis Canavan - both chosen specifically because they weren't SNP.

Alex Salmond was not even a member of the advisory board.

Some perspective

My GE Betting
Stake 4461.62
Return 1759.03
Profit -2682.59
ROI -60%

Last weeks football betting
Stake 68409.59
Return 74595.91
Profit 6186.32
ROI 9%

Philip_Thompson said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Philip_Thompson said:

isam said:

Farage the best man for the job and has got the job

Great news for Ukip, bad news for everyone else.. Hence the anger from other party followers

Happy Monday!

....

There are plenty of people who could take on the job of leading an out campaign both inside UKIP and out. ...

Just as importantly there is a basic problem with UKIP's current position on post exit status. We need to have a position that we will move to EEA/EFTA membership at least in the short term. This would greatly reassure business and would give the public a clear picture of what a post Brexit relationship with Europe would look like. As long as UKIP hold a position that we will not join EFTA then we are going to struggle to persuade voters that Brexit is the right move.

I agree with everything except the logic of EEA/EFTA. If you do that then why bother leaving the EU in the first place, you still have to follow most of the rules but don't get a say in writing them. That's the worst of all worlds.

The main reason UKIP say we should leave is to stop the free movement of people. Free movement extends to the EEA/EFTA too and not just the EU. In which case that argument is lost.

And this is another reason Out will lose. There are too many different views on "what happens next" that become impossible to reconcile.

Correct. If we leave the political part of the EU and join (or stay in the EEA) then this is the trade deal that would be on offer. And in terms of the single market it would not change where we are now.

nigel4england said:

isam said:

Think if all the PBers that were going to vote Ukip under a new leader but now will have to stick with their old party! #missedopportunity

For all the stick Farage is getting for being reinstated at the behest of the money men )and I think he should stay out) I have seen little criticism of Ed Balls alleged grubby attempt to get back in.

If he had won Thanet South by 1 vote and UKIP had got 8% you would have been happy for him to stay?

Basically unless Carswell wanted the job, it was going to be a non MP, so Farage's reason for stepping down (not being in Westminster) was bogus.. as it stands he is the best man for the job, and he is in he job

Rejoice!

MalcG Yes, both have that rare appeal beyond Westminster, only Boris has the recognition of Salmond and Farage

Superb!

SquareRoot said:

This just popped into my inbox...


While walking down the street one day a Member of Parliament is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter.

'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the MP.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he went down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he found himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and dressed in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They played a friendly game of golf and then dined on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it's time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and wave whilst the elevator rises....

The elevator rises and the door opens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down down to hell.

When the doors open he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ' I don't understand,' stammers the MP.

'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened? '

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, ' Yesterday we were campaigning..
Today you voted.

FlightPathL UKIP can look to eat into Out voters from the main parties as the SNP did from Yes voters from the main parties in Scotland

nigel4england said:

isam said:

nigel4england said:

isam said:

Think if all the PBers that were going to vote Ukip under a new leader but now will have to stick with their old party! #missedopportunity

For all the stick Farage is getting for being reinstated at the behest of the money men )and I think he should stay out) I have seen little criticism of Ed Balls alleged grubby attempt to get back in.

If he had won Thanet South by 1 vote and UKIP had got 8% you would have been happy for him to stay?

Basically unless Carswell wanted the job, it was going to be a non MP, so Farage's reason for stepping down (not being in Westminster) was bogus.. as it stands he is the best man for the job, and he is in he job

Rejoice!

I just think he needs a break, he has taken the fight to the establishment for 20 years now, has done a superb job but looks weary, which is no surprise. He could be just as effective if someone like Woolfe, Nuttall or Evans took over with appearances on QT, Newsnight etc

He should step out of the limelight for a period, recharge his batteries then come back for the good fight.

He should have taken 2 months out , and then they could have had a coronation and welcomed back the prodigal son. Much more dramatic.

nigel4england said:

I just think he needs a break, he has taken the fight to the establishment for 20 years now, has done a superb job but looks weary, which is no surprise. He could be just as effective if someone like Woolfe, Nuttall or Evans took over with appearances on QT, Newsnight etc

He should step out of the limelight for a period, recharge his batteries then come back for the good fight.

Why should it be such hard work? It's hardly much of an effort for Farage to take the fight to the estasblishment. He's firmly rooted at the heart of it.