The BBC has the story about Lord Pearson standing down as UKIP’s leader following his less than successful general election performance (with that TV interview):
In his resignation statement, Lord Pearson said he was “not much good” at party politics and UKIP “deserved a better politician… to lead it”.
The outgoing leader had a difficult general election campaign, telling one interviewer he could not remember his own manifesto in detail.
An interim leader will be chosen at UKIP’s annual conference next month.
I must admit I’m a little impressed with his departure – it’s a rare person who admits they aren’t up to the job they are in and stands aside.
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7 Comments
I agree, Mark – in his TV appearances he was so transparently awful. He never had any briefing (that he had absorbed, anyway!) I just don’t get how he was elected / appointed, or let himself go forward in the first place.
@Tim13
Like many ideologically ‘pure’ parties leadership is often decided on how doctrinaire you are. Hence a disaster like Lord Pearson.
But ultimately, UKIP can’t sell it’s Kool-Aid, and that’s why they fail.
I have new found respect for the man as he seems very honest in his assessment of his performance. Anyone care to guess who the new leader will be?
It was painfully obvious during the election campaign that he wasn’t up to the job of party leader, but as a successful businessman there are clearly other very tough jobs he’s more than capable of mastering. Like Mark, I’m impressed by his honesty. I think Farage will be back as leader.
UKIP is a fraudulent party, its very name is a lie. While it sells itself as about “UK independence”, it sees that exclusively in terms of opposition to the European Union. It says nothing about the ability of the UK to decide for itself how life will be lived being impaired by our economy moving into the hands of big corporations who may be based in other countries or whose base here is nominal and does not indicate any particular care for the UK and its people. Anyone with a bit of sense who looked around at what is happening to our country could see that this is where the real threat to UK independence comes from. That this is not widely appreciated is due to so much of our media being in the hands of these big corporations, who find the EU a convenient scapegoat to use to divert attention from our country being sold off out of our hands. UKIP takes the lead in this – it pushes an extreme right-wing economic policy which is 100% in support of this sell-off of UK independence. However, most of its members and voters are stupid people who do not realise they are being used in this way, what is said here indicates its outgoing leader is like that as well.
I would add to what Matthew has just written that UKIP’s leaders supported the Iraq war and are four square behind the US foreign policy agenda.
Nigel Fagage’s result in Buckingham was pathetic. In the absence of an official Conservative candidate he came third behind an independent few people have ever heard of.
@ Mathew Huntbach
I agree with all of your comments.
UKIP is where the Blue Tories would really like to be but they have to worry about people voting for them!