As it celebrates Brexit, UKIP loses its man in the Commons
Douglas Carswell abandons the party, whose nativism clashed with his libertarianism
WHEN the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was formed in 1993 to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, few imagined the fringe party’s constitutionalist agenda would make much impact. Nigel Farage, the party’s on-off leader between 2006 and 2016, often joked that he was the “patron saint of lost causes”. Yet on March 29th, 24 years after the party was formed, Theresa May triggered Article 50, beginning the process to leave the EU. It represents an astonishing political victory for UKIP. And yet as Kippers celebrated, they did so amid new questions about their party’s future.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “And then there were none”
Britain April 1st 2017
- The two-year countdown to Brexit has begun
- As it celebrates Brexit, UKIP loses its man in the Commons
- Want to challenge your unfair dismissal? That’ll be £1,200
- British Airways is turning into a no-frills airline
- An attack in London puts Birmingham’s Muslims in the spotlight
- Converts to Islam are likelier to radicalise than native Muslims
- How Brexit damaged Britain’s democracy
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