The local results suggest that the other anti-EU parties (everything below the Greens on that list) got about 90,000 votes between them, as compared with UKIP's 428,000.
Also, looking at those numbers UKIP were up 10.2% - but the BNP, the English Democrats and No2EU between them dropped 9 points. Add in the slightly less than 4% of votes for the new nutjob parties, and the actual increase in anti-EU share is 5% overall. Still worrying, but a lot of UKIP's supposed rise has been fuelled by the BNP's collapse.
Engagement at EU elections is always a problem. We've now got ourselves stuck in a vicious circle where the only voters who feel strongly about them are the ones who support the anti-EU parties.
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Date: 2014-05-26 09:23 pm (UTC)Also, looking at those numbers UKIP were up 10.2% - but the BNP, the English Democrats and No2EU between them dropped 9 points. Add in the slightly less than 4% of votes for the new nutjob parties, and the actual increase in anti-EU share is 5% overall. Still worrying, but a lot of UKIP's supposed rise has been fuelled by the BNP's collapse.
Engagement at EU elections is always a problem. We've now got ourselves stuck in a vicious circle where the only voters who feel strongly about them are the ones who support the anti-EU parties.