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Strategic Eurosceptics and polite xenophobes: Support for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 European Parliament elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2026

Robert Ford ,
Matthew J. Goodwin  and
David Cutts
Robert Ford*
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Change (ISC), University of Manchester, UK
Matthew J. Goodwin
Affiliation:
School of Politics & International Relations, University of Nottingham, UK
David Cutts
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Change (ISC), University of Manchester, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Robert Ford, Institute for Social Change (ISC), University of Manchester, 2.11 Humanities Bridgeford Street, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK. Tel.: +44 (0)161 27 53571; E‐mail: rob.ford@manchester.ac.uk
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Abstract

While Euroscepticism is the most important driver of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) support, other attitudinal drivers – namely dissatisfaction towards mainstream parties and xenophobia – are also important. Examining vote‐switching between first‐ and second‐order elections evidence is found of a distinction between two types of supporter: more affluent and middle‐class ‘strategic defectors’ from the mainstream Conservative Party who support UKIP to register their Euroscepticism, and more economically marginal and politically disaffected ‘core loyalists’ who are attracted to UKIP by its anti‐immigration rhetoric and populist anti‐establishment strategy. UKIP also succeeds in attracting core support from groups such as women who have traditionally rejected extreme right parties such as the British National Party (BNP). This suggests that UKIP is well positioned to recruit a broader and more enduring base of support than the BNP.

Keywords

votingEuroscepticismextreme rightsecond‐order elections

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
European Journal of Political Research , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 204 - 234
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 The Author(s). European Journal of Political Research © 2011 European Consortium for Political Research

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