Why Would Anyone Switch From Labour To Ukip?

[10ClarionSt]

People are free to choose, of course, but I can't understand why any Labour supporter would switch to the ultra right wing of the Tory party and vote Ukip. They (UKip) are targeting our constituency as a possible gain. Can't see it myself. It's Middleton and Heywood btw.

[Old_Geezer]

What's the confusion, apart from it being 'very late in the day' ?

Presently UKIP doesn't represent the far right, they have no likelihood of being anything other than a pro-Brexit party. So left and right does not come into it. Anyone who has come to their senses and want to support the democratic choice of the people may well want to leave a anti-nationalist/pro-EU party, and least for the duration.

[Jackdaw33]

Voting Labour tends to be a tribal thing. You do it because your father and grandfather did. Most Labour voters I know hold views to the right of UKIP's. Perhaps people are waking up and see where their best interests lie.

[mushroom25]

//switch to the ultra right wing of the Tory party and vote Ukip.//

are you suggesting that UKIP aren't in fact a party but just a conservative party pressure group of some sort, like "momentum" are to the labour party?

[Kromovaracun]

UKIP are populists and also pose themselves as a "party of the masses" like Labour does.

UKIP also takes a more hardline stance on immigration, which is more popular. Labour doesn't because it has two distinct areas of core support that contradict each other on policy/values: southern/big city cosmopolitans and northern working classes (to the extent that there is such a thing anymore). This is the exact same reason why Labour is incapable of making a serious commitment either way on Brexit and keep coming up with compromise positions that please nobody.

UKIP have also proven very effective at portraying Labour as a "party of the elite" because it has a large level of support in London. This is rather disingenuous, but as in all modern political systems, it works.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) UKIP are rather dead in the water because the Conservative party has nicked all their policies. All of the above applies for the same reasons though.

[mikey4444]

10ClarionSt....from what I can see, you have just cause to be worried !

Personally, I can't see any reason to vote UKIP, ever. But especially now that they have scared Britain into voting for BREXIT.

UKIP appeals mainly to the uneducated and credulous.

[anotheoldgit]

How long have you got?

[emmie]

mikey

i didn't need to be scared into voting Brexit and many of the people i know who voted out weren't scared or indeed misinformed.

[Jackdaw33]

There must be an awful lot of uneducated and credulous people out there, Mikey.

[emmie]

i have only ever voted for UKIP once, i wouldn't do it again, but as a tory voter i do take exception to being labelled as such

[Kromovaracun]

Well, it's entirely possible that the 4million who voted for UKIP at the last election were credulous and stupid. I'm not sure anyone would seriously disagree that there aren't a lot of stupid people in the UK (just like there are anywhere).

Not an explanation I hold truck with myself, to be clear, but oh well.

[Jackdaw33]

Can't find the link now but the BBC did a street survey in Wakefield, a place where they don't count the Labour votes, just weigh them. It was surprising the number who said they were considering switching to the Tories.

[mikey4444]

Emmie....so why did you vote for UKIP in the first place ?

You must have known that they had zero chance of winning an Election. If you were so keen to come out of the EU, you should have voted for the Tories.

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// But especially now that they have scared Britain into voting for BREXIT. ///

/// UKIP appeals mainly to the uneducated and credulous. ///

So there you have it all you Brexit voters, you are mainly uneducated and credulous, according to AB's diehard Labour supporter.

[Jackdaw33]

Mikey, do you also consider Tory voters to be uneducated and credulous?

[mikey4444]

AOG....that isn't what I said though, is it ?

"UKIP appeals mainly to the uneducated and credulous"

UKIP will never win an election in this country, so why vote for them in the first place ?

[emmie]

i voted the way i was thinking at the time, i don't consider myself stupid. As it happens i am somewhat disillusioned with politics, but that didn't stop me voting out in the EU referendum.

[Kromovaracun]

Do you completely disagree with principled voting, Mikey?

It seems extremely unlikely that Labour has any realistic chance of winning the next election unless there is some catastrophic PR disaster for the government. Does that mean you're not going to vote for the party you believe in?

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// If you were so keen to come out of the EU, you should have voted for the Tories. ///

And do you really think that the Tories would have given us the opportunity to get out of the EU if it hadn't been for UKIP?

[mikey4444]

Emmie....if you were "disillusioned with politics" then why didn't you abstain from voting altogether, as about a third of voters do ? I can't see that is any reason to vote for a party that can not, and will not, ever form a Government.