The UK Independence Party (UKIP, /ˈjuːkɪp/ YEW-kip) is a Eurosceptic right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party describes itself as a "democratic, libertarian party".
UKIP has never won a seat in the House of Commons, but has three members in the unelected House of Lords, all of which are as a result of defections by Conservative peers. It also has 12 seats in the European Parliament, which is a reduction from 13 won in 2009 because of defections, but with one gained from the defection of Roger Helmer from the Conservative Party. UKIP currently holds one seat on the Northern Ireland Assembly due to a defection from former Ulster Unionist Party MLA David McNarry in October 2012.
The leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage, was re-elected on 5 November 2010, having first served from 2006 to 2009. Farage has been a UKIP MEP since 1999 and is a founding member of the party after leaving the Conservative Party in 1992 when it led Britain into the Maastricht treaty.
In the 2009 election to the European Parliament, UKIP attained 13 seats with 16.5% of the vote, coming second behind the Conservative Party, overtaking the Labour Party in terms of votes, and drawing with it in terms of seats. In the 2010 general election, the party polled 3.1% of the vote, an increase of 0.9% from the 2005 general election. In the 2011 local elections, UKIP took control of Ramsey town council, and maintained its seven councillors across England, and one in Northern Ireland.
Read more about UK Independence Party: Party Leaders, Policies
Famous quotes containing the words independence and/or party:
“Children are as destined biologically to break away as we are, emotionally, to hold on and protect. But thinking independently comes of acting independently. It begins with a two-year-old doggedly pulling on flannel pajamas during a July heat wave and with parents accepting that the impulse is a good one. When we let go of these small tasks without anger or sorrow but with pleasure and pride we give each act of independence our blessing.”
—Cathy Rindner Tempelsman (20th century)
“He said, truly, that the reason why such greatly superior numbers quailed before him was, as one of his prisoners confessed, because they lacked a cause,—a kind of armor which he and his party never lacked. When the time came, few men were found willing to lay down their lives in defense of what they knew to be wrong; they did not like that this should be their last act in this world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)