Polls close on campaign dominated by Ukip
As votes are counted in local council elections in England and Wales, the outcome for the three main political groupings could be determined by a party few had heard of until a few years ago.
In the 2005 general election Ukip fielded just under 500 candidates, but failed to sustain the momentum of the previous year, when it won 12 seats in the European elections and two seats in the London Assembly.
In the 2013 local elections, by contrast, Ukip could significantly affect the political make-up of 27 English county councils and unitary authorities (one of which is Anglesey, in Wales).
Bookmakers predict that the party led by Nigel Farage could secure more than 100 seats. Ukip is putting forward 1,745 candidates, nearly on a par with the number of Liberal Democrat candidates and three times as many as it put forward in the previous local elections in 2009.
Conservative strategists have warned that a strong Ukip showing could result in the Tories losing up to 500 council seats.
‘We have been beaten before by Ukip’
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who leads the Liberal Democrats, appeared to be preparing the way for a disappointing showing by his party when he told Channel 4 News on Wednesday: “We have been beaten by Ukip before in the polls.
“What I am saying is that these things come and go in politics, and I’ve seen them in my time come and go.
“Ukip beat us in 2009. A year later we won 24 per cent of the vote in the general election and Ukip were nowhere.”
Mid-term polls – the general election is two years away – traditionally favour opposition parties, but Labour is playing down expectations of making significant gains.
In addition to the local elections, parties are contesting the South Shields by-election triggered by former foreign secretary David Miliband’s decision to step down.
The Labour candidate is expected to retain what is a safe Labour seat. But some are predicting another strong Ukip performance after the anti-EU party finished in second place in the last three by-elections.