I liked this:
UKIP’s Nigel Farage said the surge in support for his party was not a “freak result”, telling the BBC: “If the Conservatives hadn’t split our vote we would have won.”
The BBC give the result as follows:
Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat) 13,342
Diane James (UKIP) 11,571
Maria Hutchings (Conservative) 10,559
John O’Farrell (Labour) 4,088
That puts UKIP firmly in the mainstream.
Libertarian Home 
Yes – if one’s objective was to defeat the Lib Dems (whose only problem with Cameron-Osbourne is that they are not statist enough) then it makes more sense to have voted for the candidate who got 11,571 votes than the candidate who got 10,559 votes.
That is just mathematics – it is objectively true.
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[…] UKIP lose thanks to Tory vote splitters […]
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I think I can see now why Farage wouldn’t stand himself: worried he might actually win!
Hannan calls for Farage to replace Cameron! (More or less)
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That puts UKIP firmly in the mainstream.
If you analyse the vote, they got most of their support from people who liked their anti-immigration policy.
I hope you are not suggesting their success was in any way pro-libertarian?
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They claim to be libertarian, that makes their success news on this website.
Thanks for adding your interpretation. I tend to agree – Mr Aldridge’s faction notwithstanding.
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Simon
They claim to be libertarian, that makes their success news on this website.
I could claim to be a lemon meringue pie, but it wouldn’t make me one.
UKIP have some fiscal policies that coincide with some libertarian ones but it is a coincidence. Their main populist hook is their anti immigration stance which is as diametrically opposed to the libertarian aspiration of free borders as can be.
Even the “we’re not winning the war on drugs” cry is based on pragmatism rather than being inspired by individual freedom and the anti-EU position is founded in nationalism rather than minarchism.
Farage spins the libertarian line when it suits him but I guarantee you wouldn’t have much in common with most of their members or voters.
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If a lemon meringue pie served to the queen turned out to taste salty, other lemon meringue pies might be interested to know about it.
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Very Eric Cantona!!!!
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Ukip are not libertarian and it irritates me too that they claim to be. They are in fact conservatives: actual proper conservatives. The main two are either communists or facists depending on the day of the week. If I have to vote for a genuine conservative to keep out a communist or a fascist then I’ll do it (they are libertarian only relative to the other two).
This is also to be taken in the context of what the EU is rapidly descending into, and the total lack of concern shown by any party other than Ukip.
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I’m not a big fan of UKIP, but I’m basically with Right-Wing Hippy. They are definitely the best of a bad lot.
They also strike me as a mixed bag – united more by dislike of the EU and the Big Three parties than by any coherent ideology. We all know that there are some genuine libertarians in UKIP. They also have members who are extreme authoritarians and statists. The question is “Where is the UKIP centre ground?” And my guess is that, broadly speaking, it is more sympathetic to free markets, free trade, free speech and freedom of association than any of the Big Three – which is why I am heartened by the Eastleigh result.
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