Farage changes his colours

Today’s Sunday Telegraph has a two page spread entitled, “Farage lives the dream as UKIP enjoys  ’Heineken effect’”. This refers to UKIP reaching the voters other parties cannot reach. I hope this is true and that UKIP membership is booming as the sycophants claim. I and many others take UKIP claims on membership numbers with a pinch of salt but surely UKIP numbers must be increasing post Eastleigh and Mrs James.  This can only be a good thing for our cause and UKIP localism. The most encouraging thing I have seen in UKIP was the selection by the local party of Mrs James as the UKIP Eastleigh candidate. UKIP needs much more of this and its a great pity that they voted through the Farage negative reforms which stops local parties doing this for the Europeans and puts candidate selection entirely in Farage’s hands. NF has to realise the foot soldiers will work much harder and better for a local candidate they have  chosen rather than having the Andreasens and Bannermans manipulated onto the slate.

The most interesting things in the S Telegraph piece were the pictures see below of NF doing his favourite things.

They show a change of image from the city slicker pin stripe suit to the Tory knight of the shires, sage green jacket to appeal to his country audience. Its the colour favoured by old Tories like former UKIP leader Roger Knapman. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but in this case Mr Knapman might not agree. Its a bit double edged as it identifies him to the public with the knights of the shires which I don’t think is helpful when you are trying to differentiate UKIP from the Tories but anything that gets him away from the City spiv/banker image is great. Overall it’s a net positive I should say.

The other pictures in the piece illustrate the problem. One, not on the internet version, shows him being introduced on the platform by a decent looking man wearing exactly the same sage colour and jacket type as NF. A wannabe MEP possibly? NF likes that sort of flattery. It worked for Nuttall who dressed excatly like Nigel for press photos.

The pic below however shows the problem.

Three middle aged men but only one presentable woman and no black faces. The technique UKIP have to master is doughnuting. Watch Cam, Cleggy and Milliband’s photo shoots. They are always shown surrounded by young good looking people with a majority of women and non-whites. They even do the same in the House of Commons where young photogenic females are rapidly shuffled into shot and a blackj face is always visible. Older white males banished to the back banches. It has unpleasant overtones but it creates the right impression with Joe Public  and gets votes which is all that matters.

Its overall a very favourable piece for UKIP and well worth reading in full click link.

Farage however showed his true colours in one telling quote,

“A first MP would be an important moment, of course – although frankly it hasn’t done much for the Green Party or Respect,”

That lets the cat out of the bag. A win for Diane James in Eastleigh would have been a personal disaster for Farage. Think what it would do for UKIP to have an MP asking questions at PMQs, interviewed on College Green by the media, regular appearances on the Daily Politics. But it would not have been Nigel!  He could not take that nor would he survive as party leader over the water. A bit like Bonnie Prince Charlie who wasted the rest of his life away in Rome, he would die politically in the pubs of Brussels. In the long run this would be good for our cause as it would return our efforts to the Westminster parliament which is the only body that by repealing the 1973 ECM act can get us out of the EU Act can get us out of the EU.

Nigel Farage is an EU puppet bought and controlled with Brussel’s Euros. I sometimes think that he does not realise this himself. Its a great pity. He has great talents and energy but also great weaknesses. Advancing tired old Tories like the Hamiltons may be comfortable for Nigel but can never appeal to those who have never voted. Diane James did that. Christine Hamilton never can.