UKIP and Green Party (of England and Wales) leadership elections, 2016

[Phony Moderate]

Yes, there's more! Farage has just announced that he's quitting (let's assume that it's accepted this time) and Bennett announced her resignation some weeks ago.

This thread can probably become the general 'secondary UK party leadership elections' thread in the future.

Anyhow, check out all the nonentities (with one exception) running for the Green leader and deputy positions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_England_and_Wales_leadership_election,_2016#Candidates

[Soonerdem]

Wait, what the heck happened to Natalie Bennett?

[Phony Moderate]

Wait, what the heck happened to Natalie Bennett?

See opening post...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think that Charles Tavis has a good chance of winning the UKIP election.

[IceAgeComing]

If I was to be pedantic I'd say that the thread title is wrong; its the Green Party of England and Wales that's having a leadership election and the other Green parties in the UK don't vote because we are separate parties, although naturally parties that work together quite regularly.  I'd be stunned if Lucas didn't win that election though; although that's probably a name recognition thing...

[Phony Moderate]

If I was to be pedantic I'd say that the thread title is wrong; its the Green Party of England and Wales that's having a leadership election and the other Green parties in the UK don't vote because we are separate parties, although naturally parties that work together quite regularly.  I'd be stunned if Lucas didn't win that election though; although that's probably a name recognition thing...

Amended.

[rob in cal]

   I'll be interested to see if the new UKIP leader is more of a Red or Blue leaning UKIPer.  We know from the Brexit vote that there might be a huge potential for a Red UKIP, I think, just like how the working class in Austria is going to the FPO.

[IceAgeComing]

but is "red UKIP" even a thing?

I think all it will demonstrate is how shallow for talent UKIP actually are, especially since Farage got rid of a few people that he thought might be challengers in the past.  Carswell doesn't exactly strike me as the sort of leader that'll manage to get significant support in working class areas, and the only other person I know that's talking about standing is Coburn and I want him to win since that'd tank UKIP quite quickly and that's a good thing.

The interesting thing about the Greens leadership is that Lucas is actually standing with a running mate in order to have a co-leadership.  That's not abnormal for Green parties; its how the Scottish Greens have always worked and how they work in a fair few other European countries as well.

[Zinneke]

Same here in Belgium, at least for the francophones. The European spitzenkandiaten for the Greens was also a double act.

The real divide in green politics here is between integrist neo-Rousseau thought and the progressive, neo-industrialist, more centrist greens. I wonder if this reflected in the UK's party. Lucas though certainly seems to be a watermelon.

[IceAgeComing]

The Greens here are broadly watermelons (helped by a big surge in membership post-independence referendum with people who lean to the left), I'm pretty sure that's broadly the case in England as well.  The Irish Greens are a lot more centrist I believe; and they are the party that stands in NI.

[ChrisDR68]

I would have thought the UKIP race will be a three horse race between Suzanne Evans, Diane James and Paul Nuttall.

Diane James would probably have the most national electoral appeal I would think.

It's interesting as Nuttall comes from a working class Labour voting family in Bootle while the two women were middle class southern Tory voters before their new life in UKIP.

[Famous Mortimer]

UKIP reminds me a lot of the American Libertarian Party.

It's basically a right wing think tank that thinks the main centre right party is too liberal.

It also runs in elections for publicity's sake and makes some disingenuously left-wing points in order to trick people, beyond their limited base of Milton Friedman fetishists, into voting for them.

As a result, the party membership is very ideologically diverse, almost too ideologically diverse to work as anything more than a protest party. There are legit racist nationalists, anti-trade leftists, and mentally ill street people.

The people who actually founded the party and who still more or less control it, are still wonky anti-tax libertarians though. It's a question of whether they can still keep a lid on their membership, most of whom they pretty much tricked into joining in the first place.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Nuttall is an aggressive professional Scouser with the charm and general manner of a car salesman. Which is not exactly electoral gold.

[parochial boy]

Nuttall is an aggressive professional Scouser with the charm and general manner of a car salesman. Which is not exactly electoral gold.

He's also on record calling for the end of the NHS. So any half competent politician could make mincemeat of him,

[Phony Moderate]

What's Kilroy up to these days?

[SNJ1985]

Paul Nuttall rules out a bid to become UKIP's new leader.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36756379

[Phony Moderate]

In a few months' time we could possibly have all of the following parties led by women: Tories (May or Leadsom), Labour (Angela Eagle or possibly Lisa Nandy), UKIP (Suzanne Evans or Diane James), Greens (Lucas, albeit with a joint-leader who is male), SNP (Sturgeon) and Plaid Cymru (Wood).

Could this lead to the Lib Dems picking up the 'wimmin in the home!!!!11111' vote?

[SNJ1985]

^ With Nuttall out of the race, the frontrunner for the leadership of UKIP appears to be Steven Woolfe.

[SNJ1985]

^ With Nuttall out of the race, the frontrunner for the leadership of UKIP appears to be Steven Woolfe.

Nathan Gill, the leader of UKIP Wales, will stand as Woolfe's running mate:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-36793037

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Steven Woolfe, frontrunner to succeed UKIP's Nigel Farage, misses deadline for leadership nomination

As a wise man once said, "ayy lmao".

[Cassius]

I'm truly staggered that Neil Hamilton hasn't attempted to run, given that the UKIP leadership would be the next logical step in fulfilling his delusions of grandeur.

[Phony Moderate]

Calling it now: Farage is going to return. Or maybe they'll bring back the extremely effective Lord Pearson.

[Pandaguineapig]

Calling it now: Farage is going to return. Or maybe they'll bring back the extremely effective Lord Pearson.

He already has opened the door to return to leading the party in 2020

[Vega]

Calling it now: Farage is going to return. Or maybe they'll bring back the extremely effective Lord Pearson.

He already has opened the door to return to leading the party in 2020

He would like a fool of he did that. He really screwed himself over by trying to resign in 2015.

[Phony Moderate]

Diane James MEP now appears to be the clear favourite. She is essentially the candidate of the Farage/Banks faction and was the candidate in the by-election (Eastleigh, 2013) that marked the real beginning of the UKIP surge.