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| Populist Party Gaining Muscle to Push Britain to the Right | Populist Party Gaining Muscle to Push Britain to the Right |
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| GATESHEAD, England — Before winning power, Prime Minister David Cameron once called them “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists,” and a cabinet minister, Kenneth Clarke, dismissed them last year as “clowns.” But the U.K. Independence Party is showing that it cannot be laughed off. | GATESHEAD, England — Before winning power, Prime Minister David Cameron once called them “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists,” and a cabinet minister, Kenneth Clarke, dismissed them last year as “clowns.” But the U.K. Independence Party is showing that it cannot be laughed off. |
| Polls suggest that the party, which emerged from the right-wing fringes of British politics to call for sharp limits on immigration and for exiting the European Union, will perform strongly in the European Parliament elections that start on May 22. It appears poised to outpoll Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party, and it may even vie with the Labour Party for first place in Britain. | Polls suggest that the party, which emerged from the right-wing fringes of British politics to call for sharp limits on immigration and for exiting the European Union, will perform strongly in the European Parliament elections that start on May 22. It appears poised to outpoll Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party, and it may even vie with the Labour Party for first place in Britain. |
| The party and its leader, Nigel Farage, are exerting substantial influence in Britain even before the voting begins, despite holding no seats in the House of Commons. The strength of the following it has built is forcing Mr. Cameron and his party to move further rightward, and compelling other mainstream parties to take account of the appeal its anti-elitist message has for economically stressed voters who might otherwise lean left. | The party and its leader, Nigel Farage, are exerting substantial influence in Britain even before the voting begins, despite holding no seats in the House of Commons. The strength of the following it has built is forcing Mr. Cameron and his party to move further rightward, and compelling other mainstream parties to take account of the appeal its anti-elitist message has for economically stressed voters who might otherwise lean left. |
| In that sense, UKIP, as the party is known, is similar to the National Front of Marine Le Pen in France, the Party for Freedom under Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement in Italy, and other protest parties in Europe. All have a chance in this month’s elections to establish themselves as legitimate political forces, their clout coming less from the seats they win than from their skill in redefining public debate around their populist themes. | In that sense, UKIP, as the party is known, is similar to the National Front of Marine Le Pen in France, the Party for Freedom under Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement in Italy, and other protest parties in Europe. All have a chance in this month’s elections to establish themselves as legitimate political forces, their clout coming less from the seats they win than from their skill in redefining public debate around their populist themes. |
| From Amsterdam to Athens, populists are seeking to capitalize on discontent with mainstream politicians and with European integration, which many voters now associate more with austerity than prosperity. Even in Germany, arguably the nation most committed to the European Union, one fringe party is campaigning to scrap the shared euro currency. | From Amsterdam to Athens, populists are seeking to capitalize on discontent with mainstream politicians and with European integration, which many voters now associate more with austerity than prosperity. Even in Germany, arguably the nation most committed to the European Union, one fringe party is campaigning to scrap the shared euro currency. |
| Pressure from the right in Britain has already elicited promises from Mr. Cameron to restrict immigration, curb welfare entitlements for newcomers and hold a referendum in 2017 on whether to quit the European Union. | Pressure from the right in Britain has already elicited promises from Mr. Cameron to restrict immigration, curb welfare entitlements for newcomers and hold a referendum in 2017 on whether to quit the European Union. |
| Speaking to 1,200 supporters who gathered in April in Gateshead, an industrial town in northern England, Mr. Farage urged Britain to get “up off its knees” and take a path independent of the European Union. He predicted that across the 28-nation bloc, political parties skeptical of greater integration would win about one-quarter of the vote. | Speaking to 1,200 supporters who gathered in April in Gateshead, an industrial town in northern England, Mr. Farage urged Britain to get “up off its knees” and take a path independent of the European Union. He predicted that across the 28-nation bloc, political parties skeptical of greater integration would win about one-quarter of the vote. |
| For his party, Mr. Farage declared, the “days of mockery are over.” | For his party, Mr. Farage declared, the “days of mockery are over.” |
| Britain’s economy is recovering after years of austerity, but the country remains in a scratchy, doubting mood, questioning its role in the world after unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Scots are to vote in September on seceding from the United Kingdom. | Britain’s economy is recovering after years of austerity, but the country remains in a scratchy, doubting mood, questioning its role in the world after unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Scots are to vote in September on seceding from the United Kingdom. |
| In that climate, Mr. Farage has provided what to some Britons are appealing targets of blame. | In that climate, Mr. Farage has provided what to some Britons are appealing targets of blame. |
| “He’s giving a very simple message to voters: Say ‘no’ to immigration, say ‘no’ to Westminster, say ‘no’ to Brussels,” said Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics at the University of Nottingham, referring to the seats of national and European power. | |
| Professor Goodwin said UKIP has evolved from “an anti-Europe, single issue pressure group” into a “broad radical-right force that is winning support not just from ex-Conservatives, but people we call the left behind: blue-collar, working-class voters who, under a period of harsh fiscal austerity, might otherwise be expected to support the center-left Labour Party.” | Professor Goodwin said UKIP has evolved from “an anti-Europe, single issue pressure group” into a “broad radical-right force that is winning support not just from ex-Conservatives, but people we call the left behind: blue-collar, working-class voters who, under a period of harsh fiscal austerity, might otherwise be expected to support the center-left Labour Party.” |
| In Mr. Farage, who holds a seat in the European Parliament already, UKIP has a public face with an easy barroom charm and a talent for invective. In 2010 he turned a routine exchange into a YouTube hit by telling Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, that he had “the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk.” | In Mr. Farage, who holds a seat in the European Parliament already, UKIP has a public face with an easy barroom charm and a talent for invective. In 2010 he turned a routine exchange into a YouTube hit by telling Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, that he had “the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk.” |
| UKIP caused a sensation by grabbing one-quarter of the vote in local elections last year. And unlike British elections, those for the European Parliament use a proportional system that benefits smaller parties. | UKIP caused a sensation by grabbing one-quarter of the vote in local elections last year. And unlike British elections, those for the European Parliament use a proportional system that benefits smaller parties. |
| The Conservatives worry that they will lose crucial voters to UKIP, perhaps enough to deny the Tories a new term in power in the British general election next year. But the insurgents threaten Labour as well with its appeal to working-class voters. In Gateshead, Mr. Farage asserted that immigration was “good for rich people, because it means cheaper nannies and cheaper chauffeurs and cheaper gardeners, but it has been a disaster for millions of ordinary, decent families.” | The Conservatives worry that they will lose crucial voters to UKIP, perhaps enough to deny the Tories a new term in power in the British general election next year. But the insurgents threaten Labour as well with its appeal to working-class voters. In Gateshead, Mr. Farage asserted that immigration was “good for rich people, because it means cheaper nannies and cheaper chauffeurs and cheaper gardeners, but it has been a disaster for millions of ordinary, decent families.” |
| For all its success, though, UKIP has been handicapped by inconsistency and amateurishness. Mr. Farage has criticized other leaders as elitists, but he, too, went to private school. After complaining about foreigners taking British jobs, he has had trouble justifying hiring his German wife as a secretary at taxpayers’ expense. | For all its success, though, UKIP has been handicapped by inconsistency and amateurishness. Mr. Farage has criticized other leaders as elitists, but he, too, went to private school. After complaining about foreigners taking British jobs, he has had trouble justifying hiring his German wife as a secretary at taxpayers’ expense. |
| He is often embarrassed by things his party colleagues say and do, like the statement by a local-government council member that the serious floods this year were divine retribution for Britain legalizing same-sex marriage. One supporter was suspended from the party over xenophobic comments he posted on Twitter; a member of the European Parliament resigned from UKIP after referring to women as “sluts.” | He is often embarrassed by things his party colleagues say and do, like the statement by a local-government council member that the serious floods this year were divine retribution for Britain legalizing same-sex marriage. One supporter was suspended from the party over xenophobic comments he posted on Twitter; a member of the European Parliament resigned from UKIP after referring to women as “sluts.” |
| Many commentators say Mr. Farage got the better of two televised clashes over European policy with Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats who is Mr. Cameron’s coalition partner. But Mr. Farage also gave voters reason to question his judgment when he said in an interview that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was the statesman he most admired. | Many commentators say Mr. Farage got the better of two televised clashes over European policy with Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats who is Mr. Cameron’s coalition partner. But Mr. Farage also gave voters reason to question his judgment when he said in an interview that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was the statesman he most admired. |
| Still, by fusing the issues of Europe and immigration, Mr. Farage has given the party a clear identity and an easily understood agenda. | Still, by fusing the issues of Europe and immigration, Mr. Farage has given the party a clear identity and an easily understood agenda. |
| “They are standing on a tidal wave of public opinion,” Professor Goodwin said. | “They are standing on a tidal wave of public opinion,” Professor Goodwin said. |
| It remains to be seen whether UKIP can become something more permanent than a protest party. It did well in the last elections for the European Parliament in 2009, placing second in Britain with 16.5 percent of the vote and 13 seats, only to see its support slump to 3.1 percent in the general election the next year, when the government of the country was at stake. | It remains to be seen whether UKIP can become something more permanent than a protest party. It did well in the last elections for the European Parliament in 2009, placing second in Britain with 16.5 percent of the vote and 13 seats, only to see its support slump to 3.1 percent in the general election the next year, when the government of the country was at stake. |
| But it is clear that the party has already moved British politics to the right. The Labour Party, which moved to open the country to workers from eight ex-Communist countries when it was in power in 2004, and before it needed to, has now said that step should have been delayed. And Mr. Cameron, besides hardening immigration policy and offering a referendum on Europe, has shifted his government’s stance on other issues, including the environment (UKIP opposes subsidies for wind farms). | |
| Critics say that, far from weakening UKIP’s appeal, adopting this approach validates the party’s agenda. And on his signature issues, Mr. Farage is hard to outmaneuver. | Critics say that, far from weakening UKIP’s appeal, adopting this approach validates the party’s agenda. And on his signature issues, Mr. Farage is hard to outmaneuver. |
| Last year, Mr. Cameron’s government sent out vans with advertisements telling illegal immigrants to “go home” or face arrest. Unexpectedly Mr. Farage denounced the billboards as nasty and un-British. Not long afterward, the program was discontinued. | Last year, Mr. Cameron’s government sent out vans with advertisements telling illegal immigrants to “go home” or face arrest. Unexpectedly Mr. Farage denounced the billboards as nasty and un-British. Not long afterward, the program was discontinued. |