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Just last year, Conservative Party grandee Kenneth Clarke described them as a "collection of clowns" – yet now they represent the greatest electoral challenge to the three main U.K. political parties for decades. The U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) - the closest the U.K. has to the U.S. tea party - has emerged from the fringes to the limelight, winning its first seat in the U.K. parliament in a by-election on Thursday. Referendum on EU membership UKIP member of European Parliament (MEP) Patrick O'Flynn wrote that if UKIP's candidate comes "a good second" in Heywood and Middleton, "my party will have...

.....11:55 Brian Stimpson, who has lived in Clacton since 1948 tells the BBC: "The result is fantastic. I was at the town hall last night till 4am. I was always a Tory voter but I'm not any more. This country needs a change. We are in a mess. We've got to get out of the EU. The future doesn't look too bright unless there is a dramatic change-and UKIP offers that."... 11:49 Mr. Straw acknowledges the last Labour government made a "mistake" when it failed in 2003 and 2004 to put in place transitional controls for immigrants from countries that...

CLACTON-UPON-SEA, United Kingdom -- The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) tonight took its first elected seat in the House of Commons following Douglas Carswell's stunning defection and by-election in the Essex seat of Clacton-Upon-Sea. Shortly after the Heywood and Middleton by election result - a vote hosted on the same day in the north of England - UKIP cruised to victory with a total of 60 percent against the Conservative Party's 25 percent. For Prime Minister David Cameron and his party the result is a hammer blow, though not an unexpected one. On today, the PM's birthday, the Tories got...

n his acceptance speech Mr Carswell, who gained 21,113 votes (59.75%) on a 44% swing from the Conservatives, said: "I resigned from parliament to face this election because I answer first, foremost and last to you. You are my boss. I will not let you down. "To my new party I offer these thoughts: humility when we win, modesty when we are proved right. If we speak with passion, let it always be tempered by compassion. "We must be a party for all Britain and all Britons: first and second generation as much as every other. Our strength must lie...

The three established political parties of the United Kingdom announced their support for tax cuts at their recent conferences. But it was the United Kingdom Independence Party and its leader Nigel Farage who announced support for tax cuts before the big three parties. This turn of events showed just how scared the established parties are, willing to say anything to stop the party that beat all of them in the European Parliament elections earlier this year with 27 percent of the popular vote. Today there are by-elections for two seats in the House of Commons. One of the seats is...

They don't assault - unless prevented by the police - only the English Defence League (EDL) now. The extreme Leftists have been attacking even the moderate UKIP, showing that nothing short of Leninism satisfies them. Two days ago, UKIP leader Nigel Farage was in Rochester, Kent, with the new candidate for UKIP in the upcoming by-election in the constituency of Rochester and Strood, Mark Reckless - who defected from the Conservatives to Farage's party on the last day of UKIP's conference - for a day of campaigning in the constituency. Reckless will resign his Rochester seat as a Tory...

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Tory MP Mark Reckless has said he is leaving his his party to join UKIP, announcing his decision on the eve of the Conservatives' conference. The Rochester and Strood MP told the UKIP conference he had resigned as an MP, triggering a by-election..... He is the second Tory MP to defect to UKIP after Clacton MP Douglas Carswell did the same in August. Mr. Reckless will seek re-election in his constituency for UKIP...... Mr. Reckless said the Conservative leadership was "part of the problem that is holding our country back." Criticising the three main parties, he said: "People feel ignored,...

If Miliband wants peace let him task his Labour Friends of Palestine to produce a reformed, pragmatic Hamas. Persuade Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to recognize the right of the Jewish people to live in peace in the Land of Israel Statements made by Ed Miliband and his Shadow Foreign Minister, Douglas Alexander at the Labour Party Conference on Monday, September 22, were appalling for their one-sided bias against Israel. Although they paid lip service to a condemnation of “Hamas rockets and the terrorization of civilian populations” the only use of the word “illegal” was in reference to Israeli building, and the...

The new European Commission has rejected the UK Government’s call to set up an independent body to scrutinize EU regulation and impact assessments before and after legislative proposals are adopted by the executive. Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokeswoman, Natasha Bertaud, told EurActiv that impact assessments would remain an internal matter before proposals were adopted. Frans Timmermans, Juncker’s choice for the new post of vice president in charge of better regulation, would ensure their quality, she said, after pointing to EU treaties governing Commission procedures. Currently, research on the impact of regulation is looked over by an internal Commission department. It is then...

Conservative MP Mark Reckless has announced that he is joining UKIP. The Rochester and Strood MP told the UKIP conference, in Doncaster, that he has resigned as an MP, triggering a by-election in the constituency. Delegates started to spontaneously chant "UKIP, UKIP" when Mr Reckless announced his decision to defect, which he said was not easy. The move comes just weeks after Clacton MP Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives to join UKIP.

Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood Mark Reckless is joining Ukip. Developing

Parliament is to be recalled on Friday to discuss the UK's possible involvement in air strikes against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. Prime Minister David Cameron said MPs should respond to the Iraqi government's request for help. He added that the UK "should not turn away from what needs to be done". The Liberal Democrats are backing air strikes in Iraq and Labour leader Ed Miliband has confirmed his support, saying the UK cannot "opt out". Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has said it is "aware" of reports that a British national has died in Syria, but it has "no further...

Nigel Farage speech 19:28

European Union leaders announced they will be consolidating energy and environmental goals under a new commissioner, effectively axing the intergovernmental groups’ climate arm as green policies are making it harder for citizens to pay their power bills. Former Spanish agriculture and environment minister Miguel Arias Canete was tapped by the EU Commission to take over a consolidated energy and climate office. Canete will be replacing Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard and Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger in what is seen as a huge blow to Europe’s global warming efforts.

In a week's time, Scotland will not hold a referendum... The year, carefully chosen by Mr Salmond, celebrates the one unequivocal Scottish victory in the long antagonism between the two nations, at Bannockburn in 1314... The Scots have no way of keeping a UK link while extending the powers of the Scottish Parliament... The hoodlums who sought to break up my meetings and confined me to a pub told me to go back to England... Their position is merely the extreme end of Mr Salmond's. ...if they vote "yes" next week, they will not get independence. Rather, they are voting...

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage was in studio with radio show host Laura Ingraham this week to discuss the rise of UKIP, America's political establishment, Vladimir Putin, and even Piers Morgan. On the possibility of Jeb Bush running in the 2016 presidential election race, Mr Farage said: "He represents the Establishment. He represents more of the same. He represents the kind of Republican following of Romney... Democrats have an advantage here with the changing population, so for the Republicans to win they need someone who is actually going to inspire people, and I’m not...

The only interesting things about Douglas Carswell's swtich from the Tory Party to Ukip are that it took him so long and that he has acted alone. Any thinking person has been able to see for years that the Tory Party hates conservatives. It is a roadblock, not a road, championing the elite against the people. It is kept in being only by the BBC and various dodgy billionaires, who provide it with airtime and money out of all proportion to its real support. It has no actual aims except office at all costs. It was no actual policies either,...

NEW YORK CITY, New York, United States – UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage appeared on the popular Hannity programme on Fox News tonight, discussing UK sovereignty, ISIS, David Cameron, and Islamist radicalisation. Farage, who was stopped and praised numerous times in the street whilst walking to the Fox News studio in Manhattan, said that prisons and schools were hotbeds of radicalisation in the UK, and reflected on how Britain has been "too weak" on Islamism in recent years.

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