Ukip wins majority control of its first council ever: Thanet, in Kent
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Version 0 of 1. Ukip has won majority control of its first local council; Thanet, in Kent. The eurosceptic party faced disappointment yesterday when its then leader Nigel Farage failed to win his target seat in South Thanet, which covers part of the district. Mr Farage stepped down after his defeat by the Conservative candidate, Craig McKinlay. Local elections took place in Thanet at the same time as the general election but votes were counted yesterday Ukip crossed the line on Saturday afternoon after gaining its 29th council seat in this round of elections. In his concession speech Mr Farage said he believed the party would do better in the local government elections than in the general election. “I have seen a shift in our vote and I saw it in Broadstairs, I saw people saying ‘Nigel, we’re going to vote for your in the local elections, we love what you stand for, but we can’t afford to have a Labour-SNP coalition’,” he said yesterday. “I think some of those older voters who’d been voting Ukip for the last couple of years did vote Conservative yesterday and yet that vote was supplemented, augmented, replaced by a different kind of voter.” The party won 37% of the vote in the local government district overall, just ahead of the Conservatives on 31%. The Conservatives have won 14 seats and Labour four. |