“The traditional Tories UKIP attracts support their country.”

The claim restates Farage's assertion that UKIP attracts "traditional Tories who believe in the country" — i.e., patriotic Conservatives. The evidence strongly supports that UKIP did and does attract significant support from former Conservative (Tory) voters, and that these voters are characterized by Euroscepticism, social conservatism, and patriotism. Key findings: 1. **YouGov analysis** found that 60% of UKIP supporters voted Conservative in 2010 — a clear majority. Another YouGov piece stated "UKIP attracts three ex-Tories for every ex-Labour voter." 2. **The British Election Study** (Evans and Mellon, University of Oxford) confirmed that "UKIP's voters are overwhelmingly taken from those who voted Conservative in 2010," and that these voters are characterized by Euroscepticism and socially conservative attitudes — consistent with "traditional Tories" who are patriotic. 3. **A peer-reviewed study** in the *European Journal of Political Research* (2011) identified "strategic defectors" from the Conservative Party as a key UKIP support group — described as "older, financially comfortable, middle class men with Conservative sympathies, socially conservative Eurosceptics." 4. **YouGov data from 2013** showed that almost a third of 2010 Tory voters would consider switching to UKIP, and that a quarter of Conservative supporters would "definitely" or "seriously consider" voting UKIP. The claim that UKIP attracts traditional Tories who support/believe in their country is well-supported by polling and academic research. The "traditional Tory" descriptor fits the profile of these defectors (socially conservative, Eurosceptic, patriotic), and the volume of former Conservative voters in UKIP's base is extensively documented. The "believe in the country" / patriotic characterization aligns with the Eurosceptic and socially conservative attitudes that distinguish these voters. The only minor caveat is that Farage's framing presents UKIP's appeal as broad (also attracting "patriotic Old Labour" and "classical liberals"), and while the evidence does show some Labour and Lib Dem defectors, the Conservative/Tory component is by far the largest, making this particular claim about attracting traditional Tories robustly true. Sources: YouGov, "How UKIP voters compare" (https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/5453-analysis-ukip-voters); YouGov, "Do angry Ukip voters threaten Tory future?" (https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/10721-do-angry-ukip-voters-threaten-tory-future); YouGov, "How Ukip's support has grown – and changed" (https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/10976-how-ukips-support-has-grown-and-changed); British Election Study, "All Roads lead to UKIP?" by Geoff Evans and Jon Mellon (https://www.britishelectionstudy.com/bes-resources/all-roads-lead-to-ukip-by-geoff-evans-and-jon-mellon-university-of-oxford/); Ford et al., "Strategic Eurosceptics and polite xenophobes," European Journal of Political Research, 2011 (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.01994.x); Sky News, "Third Of Tory Voters Could Back UKIP In 2014" (https://news.sky.com/story/third-of-tory-voters-could-back-ukip-in-2014-10457792)