Claim dc66f3fcChecked 09 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“UKIP picks up traditional Tories.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
A 2011 academic study found that UKIP support was concentrated among voters with a Conservative background, and that its “strategic” supporters were principally Conservative voters using UKIP to register hostility to the EU. A contemporaneous Independent report likewise said UKIP was expected to exploit disenchantment among traditional Tory supporters and that it succeeded in attracting Tory sympathisers. So the claim that UKIP picks up traditional Tories is supported, though UKIP also drew support from other groups. Sources: University of Nottingham PDF, “Strategic Eurosceptics and Polite Xenophobes: Support for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament Elections” `https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/documents/pdf/strategiceuroscepticsandpolitexenophobessupportfortheukindependencepartyinthe2009europeanparliamentelections.pdf`; The Independent, “Ukip attracts anti-immigrant vote as polite alternative to BNP” `https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-attracts-antiimmigrant-vote-as-polite-alternative-to-bnp-2268617.html`.
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+ 51 search hits considered
| [1] | nottingham.ac.uk |
| [2] | independent.co.uk |