The party failed to secure a seat but did influence the results.
Days after losing his father and uncle, South Norwood’s UKIP candidate Winston McKenzie put on a brave face as his party failed to win a seat in Croydon.
The outspoken politician, notable for joining every major political party and standing as a candidate without any success, held back tears as he talked up his chances ahead of the count.
Mr McKenzie said he was feeling confident and that success in the election would be the perfect tribute to his late father.
“If I do win tonight I will be doing handstands and dedicating my win to that great man in the sky who has made me the man I am today,” he said.
“I won’t be celebrating if I am successful tonight, I will be on an early coach to Birmingham to my father’s funeral.”
Despite his sad news, the 60-year-old former light-middleweight boxer, expected UKIP to increase their proportion of the votes in Croydon and the UK as a whole.
“UKIP is fighting for British sovereignty and I want everyone in Croydon, black, white, yellow or pink to come forward and remember that this country that was once great can be Great Britain again,” he said.
“We have so many career politicians in office who are so out of touch with ordinary people which needs to change and this is why I need to be elected to shake up the whole thing and make them all ruffle.
“Nigel Farage has been running around and I predict feathers will be ruffled everywhere from here to Westminster tonight. Let’s get ready to rumble!”
In reality, Mr McKenzie only captured 480 votes in a ward dominated by Labour councillors.
Although UKIP failed to secure a seat in the council, they were widely influential in ensuring Labour’s victory, as it appears many former-Tory supporters turned purple.
MP for Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, said: “Clearly some Conservative voters have chosen to vote for UKIP and that has allowed Labour to win the seats.
“The demographics are quite different among the wards. In UKIP’s natural territories you are tended to see a swing towards Labour, with different make-up you are not seeing such a big swing.”
In the run up to election night, Mr McKenzie created a media storm after labelling Croydon a dump at a carnival designed to promote UKIP’s image.
“I stand by my comment as it’s there for the whole community and really is plain to see. Croydon sadly has descended into a bit of a dump in various areas.
“There are so many white elephants, pot holes in the streets, fly tipping going on everywhere, a lot of schools known to have really bad drug problems and have not got any better.”
Photo courtesy of YooskTV, via YouTube, with thanks.
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