UKIP candidate Richard Hilton was ‘delighted’ with his party’s surge of voter support in the general election, particularly in London, despite him missing out on the Mitcham and Morden seat.
In 2010 UKIP promised to get 5% of the UK vote and fell disastrously short, only getting 3% of the vote.
This year Nigel Farage and his party have had a different turnout, the UKIP share stands currently at 12.2%.
That’s more than four times the 2010 result and with more than 125 more seats to be accounted for it is more than likely that this figure will rise further.
Douglas Carswell has become the first UKIP MP to be elected at a general election and Mr Farage hoping to join him in Westminster.
In 2010 UKIP’s Mitcham and Morden candidate Andrew Mills received a 2% share with 857 votes.
This year Richard Hilton received 4,287 votes, becoming the third biggest party in the constituency.
Mr Hilton said: “I am very happy with that result and I think that’s a reflection of how UKIP’s message is resonating in London.
“What we are seeing across the country is UKIP votes with massive swings, and given what everybody predicted for London and UKIP not doing so well, I am happy with that.
With immigration being a political sticking point, it may not come as a surprise to find that support for UKIP, who campaign for Britain to leave the EU and to end immigration, has more than doubled.
Speaking to South West Londoner Mr Hilton was quick to suggest that UKIP had been persuading Labour voters not Conservative to vote purple.
“This is a strong Labour seat but I think people are waking up to Labour and there are a lot of disaffected old Labour voters coming over to us, and I am going to continue to push that message to them.
“Obviously we are taking votes from Conservatives but in places like St Helier, I think we are taking votes from Labour as well.”
Image courtesy of Sky News via YouTube, with thanks
