Just how hard up are UKIP, the far right party which inexplicably still exists a decade after Nigel Farage cleared off, eventually to launch the Brexit Party then Reform?
The party, now under the “muscular Christian” leadership – his words – of hardline right winger Nick Tenconi, is standing in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election sparked by Keir Starmer’s departure. This is despite the fact that both Reform and Restore are standing, and that UKIP won just 75 votes (0.2%) when they stood there in 2024.
There’s just one hitch, though – despite the party desperately trying to tell its few remaining members it’s a viable force for government, it appears it can’t afford the £500 deposit, nor the cost of printing the leaflets that Royal Mail posts for free.
“The leaflet… will be delivered by Royal Mail to all households in the constituency, and whilst this is provided at no charge, we do have to pay the printing cost and also the £500 deposit to stand,” writes national nominating officer Janice MacKay in an email to supporters with the party’s bank transfer details.
Suggested Reading
Even rotter Ratcliffe wants to distance himself from Reform
“Any donation, no matter how small, towards the costs involved would be deeply appreciated and I can guarantee all donations will be ring-fenced for this election.
“As a political party our primary objective is to field candidates in elections otherwise we will be labelled as nothing more than a protest group.” No – you don’t say!
The party’s candidate in St Pancras is Ben Walker, its national party chairman, whose “platform focuses on upholding traditional values in Parliament, strengthening national security, and implementing comprehensive immigration policies to ensure a safer future for Britain”.
If long-term Rats in a Sack readers remember Walker, it may be because way back in February 24 he got in touch, having belatedly discovered an article charting the party’s demise in the New European (as was) the previous year. “It’s ‘quite’ crap and doesn’t really reflect the truth,” he wrote. Would you like to discuss and maybe publish more facts?”
And we were happy to! Because, coincidentally, just that week Benny Boy was stripped of his role as a magistrate, having absent-mindedly forgotten, when applying for the role, that he had been ordered to pay more than £11,000 after being found guilty of five breaches of building regulations at Bristol Magistrates Court in 2019.
“The Lord Chancellor, with the Lady Chief Justice’s agreement, has removed Mr Ben Walker of the Gloucestershire bench from office for failing to disclose that he had been convicted of five offences in his application to join the magistracy, despite clear guidance in the application form to do so,” said a spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
“Mr Walker did not declare that he had been convicted of five offences in either the application form or at interview, despite being asked whether there was anything in his private life which could damage his credibility as a magistrate if it became known to the public.”
In his defence, Walker said he “did not think that the matter for which he was fined amounted to a conviction, therefore, did not need to declare it”. Which was ‘quite’ crap.
Most popular
Sorry Nigel, but the polls show you’ve had it
“We will hope again”: Andy Burnham’s full speech to the 2026 Labour Party Conference
Why is Farage so keen to protect Russia’s right to lie and cheat?
Vigour, passion, purpose: Why Andy Burnham’s bold speech will be talked about for many years to come
