Claim b2cc66fbChecked 09 Jul 2026
FalseOn the truth scale
“When UKIP started in 1993, only about six people in the country believed in this.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The claim is not accurate if taken literally. UKIP’s own history says the party was founded in September 1993 to campaign for Britain to leave the EU, but contemporaneous polling shows that support for Eurosceptic options was far broader than “about six” people: an Ipsos poll from 21–25 October 1993 found 39% would vote to get out in a referendum, and British Social Attitudes reported that in 1993, 38% wanted either to leave the EU or remain while reducing its powers, versus 31% who wanted further integration. That makes the “only about six people” line clear hyperbole rather than a factual statement. Sources: UKIP About page (`https://www.ukip.org/about-UKIP`); Ipsos European Union membership trends (`https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/european-union-membership-trends`); British Social Attitudes 30 / NatCen excerpt (`https://paperzz.com/doc/8665991/british-social-attitudes-30`). (ukip.org)
From article
It would be silly to say that – you could never, ever represent the whole country – and since I was elected to the European Parliament I’ve always said that I’m not going to represent the whole constituency (and remember it’s vast – six million voters), I’m there to represent the people who voted for me and to use that position to try to persuade others that we are actually right.
But the interesting thing about [the UK Independence Party] is that it attracts an incredibly diverse range of people. We pick up what I would call ‘patriotic Old Labour’, we pick up classical liberals who hate the big state and believe in individual freedom and we pick up traditional Tories who believe in the country. And don’t forget that when we started [in 1993], only about six of us in the country believed in this.
Sources opened+ 72 search hits considered
| [1] | ukip.org |
| [2] | vice.com |
| [3] | ipsos.com |