Ukip soars to top of polls despite Farage ducking byelection

[dutchman]

Latest polling puts Nigel Farage's party on course to sweep European elections after leader rules out standing in Newark



Nigel Farage has bounced back from his decision not to stand in the Newark byelection as a new opinion poll found that Ukip was on course to achieve an emphatic victory in the European parliamentary elections next month.

The Ukip leader, who began the day denying that he was too "frit" to stand in Newark, was shown to be the dominant force in British politics at the moment after a dramatic increase in support for his party.

Farage said he had decided not to stand because he did not want to distract from the European elections. "We are just three weeks away from European elections where Ukip, I think, can cause a political earthquake. I want to focus the next three weeks on winning the European elections.

"I have no real connections with Newark. I would look like an opportunist and reinforce the impression that Ukip is a one-man band; we are trying to talk about British membership of the European Union."

Faced by the charge that he had showed political cowardice, he said: "I think I can be accused of many things in life but I do not think 'frit' is one of them. I am a fighter and a warrior but I am determined to pick my battles."

He promised Ukip would throw the kitchen sink at the byelection and field a strong local candidate. "There is a much bigger prize than Newark, including the general election when we can win not one seat but many seats – even holding the balance of power."

The ComRes/ITV News poll put support for Ukip at 38% for the European elections – an increase of eight points since the beginning of the month. Labour is down three points on 27% while the Tories trail in third place on 18%, down four points. The Liberal Democrats remain unchanged on 8%.

Tom Mludzinski, the head of political polling at ComRes said: "Ukip look set to pull off something spectacular at next month's European elections."

[rebbonk]

Interesting decision by Farage.

I'd love to know his game plan and how serious he is about the 2015 elections. I reckon the next few months are going to be interesting.