UKIP placards. Photograph by Jon Smith
Foreign Secretary William Hague has urged Conservative voters not to “waste” their vote on UKIP in the upcoming county council elections in England and Wales in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Hague dismissed UKIP as a “fringe party”, with the real choice for voters between the Tories and Labour, with people turning to UKIP from the Tory party likely to give an advantage to Labour.
Lord Tebbit, a Conservative peer, warned that many Tory voters would switch to UKIP as a protest against the percieved failures of David Cameron’s government.
There are 27 county council elections in England, and seven unitary authorities and Anglesey in Wales in tomorrow’s polls. There will also be a by-election in South Shields, after the Labour leader’s brother David Miliband decided to move away from politics and vacated his seat, and mayoral elections in North Tyneside and Doncaster.
UKIP, having endured a number of racism scandals in the days leading up to these elections, have promoted themselves as an alternative to three main parties and targeting an increasingly disillusioned public. The Liberal Democrats have traditionally been the third “alternative” party, but in going into a coalition with the Conservatives, they are struggling to find their new role in British politics.
The Conservatives are braced for losses, with the 350 county council and unitary authority seats they won in 2009, the last time the seats were contested, potentially looking the most vulnerable.
The unknown factor is UKIP, which has increased its number of candidates and is targeting voters disillusioned with the big three parties at Westminster.
