Apparently, UKIP are concerned about the ‘mental state’ of those wishing to become an MP, or MEP for their party.
However, there’s no suggestion that they have the same concerns about those wishing to become councillors. Does that mean that these potential candidates are somehow different, or of better ‘mental state’ than their prospective MPs and MEPS colleagues? Of course they aren’t, in fact, quite the opposite, given some of the press reports in recent months.
Indeed, the performance of UKIP councillors, elected to Lincolnshire County Council in 2013, strongly suggests that those wishing to enter local government politics, as UKIP councillors, definitely need their heads testing!
UKIP chief says half his time is spent weeding out “lunatics”…
UKIP logo“The man in charge of vetting Ukip’s election candidates has complained that ‘half my time is spent weeding out the lunatics’. David Soutter, who found himself at the heart of a party sex scandal last week, has been conducting psychological tests on prospective MPs and MEPs in order to ensure that they are ‘vaguely sane’. During a speech at Ukip’s Welsh conference last weekend, Soutter admitted that the party lacks discipline” – Sunday Times (£)
…but a UKIP candidate denounces his “pooftah” colleagues
“The UKIP activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night. In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex, mocks ‘f***ing disgusting old pooftahs’…Makes baseless claims about party leader Farage accepting a bribe to promote a Ukip ally over another rival” – Mail on Sunday
Roger Gambba-Jones 
I wonder if Boris Johnson can be included in these tests
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I don’t think Boris Johnson would have any problem passing a test of his basic decency, right-mindedness and belief in equality, unlike some of those wishing to stand for UKIP.
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To the contrary, Roger… people throwing their hat in to the ring as UKIP candidates, whether nationally or locally, are clearly rather clever opportunists who smell (some would say) a rather easy path to political influence…
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Very good point and clearly something we’ve experienced in South Holland, given their subsequent performance.
The voters are being double duped when it comes to local elections, as UKIP have no interest in local services and are only using the local elections to promote their views on national issues.
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