UKIP Elects First Member of Parliament in Britain

Allo! Allo! Frightfully good to see you today! You're just in time for a spot of coffee and a virtual English muffin. I say...did you read the news from the Britain..?

In October 2014 UKIP gained its first elected Member of Parliament (MP) in Douglas Carswell, who had defected from the Conservative Party and won the consequent by-election triggered by his resignation, regaining his seat of Clacton.

It was founded to take Britain out of the European Union but that is not the only policy in UKIP's armoury. Here, at a glance, are its commitments...

:: Top of the list and the reason for the party's existence is to leave the European Union – keep trade union with the EU but no political union.

:: No free health treatment, education or benefits for immigrants for five years – until they have paid enough to the state. Immigrants banned from UK entry unless they have private health insurance
:: No tax on the minimum wage
:: Social housing priority for those whose parents and grandparents were born locally
:: Scrap the HS2 high speed rail project
:: No green taxes or wind turbine subsidies
:: Scrap inheritance tax
:: Cut the foreign aid budget
:: Stop the European Court of Human Rights having a say in UK cases
:: No votes for prisoners
:: GP surgeries open in the evening for full-time workers
:: New grammar schools
:: An end to "political correctness", which the party says "stifles free speech"

BACKGROUND: The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is a Eurosceptic right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1993 by members of the Anti-Federalist League. The party describes itself in its constitution as a "democratic, libertarian party" and, in September 2014, reported a membership of over 48,000.

In May 2014, UKIP became the first party in over a century other than Labour or the Conservatives to come first in a United Kingdom-wide election, with its performance in the 2014 European elections giving it 24 of the UK's 73 seats in the European Parliament. 

The party's performance in the 2013 local elections, when it came fourth in the number of council seats won and third in nationwide vote share, was called the "biggest surge for a fourth party" in British politics since the Second World War.

The party's leader, Nigel Farage, was re-elected to the post on 5 November 2010, and was leader from 2006 to 2009. Farage is a founding member of the party, and has been a UKIP Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999.

Is the political wind shifting in Britain? It just might be...

Got any thoughts on this?

See ya, eh! 

Bob