If it’s Farage versus Carswell then there can only be one outcome – the current leader will win
Just 15 months ago – happier days for Mr Farage and Mr Carswell pic.twitter.com/HMdFTxPvsZ
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) December 18, 2015
Nigel Farage on Douglas Carswell: "We have got one person going round the country giving the impression UKIP is split – that can’t go on."
— Steve Hawkes (@steve_hawkes) December 18, 2015
UKIP could be about to become a ZERO MPs party
The morning has been dominated by Douglas Carswell’s comments in a BBC interview about his leader, Nigel Farage. In many way this is a story that was always going to happen – the question was when. For the two have very different views on how the purples should progress and campaign.
Farage doesn’t like internal dissenters and has taken swift action in the past. It is hard to see how this can end without Carswell becoming semi or totally detached from the party he defected to in August last year.
The timing, perhaps only months away from the referendum, could not be more critical. This is a period when UKIP and all those wanting BREXIT can ill afford their central message to be diluted by internal squabbles and wrangling. We’ve already got two rival LEAVE campaigns which is hardly good for message consistency. If the phone polls have got this right then REMAIN has a huge challenge on its hands in any case.
If Carswell does leave the purple team it is hard to see him returning to the Tories. Maybe he’d just sit as an independent.
Clearly Oldham was a huge disappointment and followed GE2015 when all its high hopes and coming third place on votes yet only getting one MP – Mr. Carswell.