On Friday Nigel Farage, one of the nation’s most influential and effective politicians, stood on the platform at the UKIP conference and gave his last speech as leader. It was emotional and, as ever, inspiring.
He built the party from a small band of patriots and ultimately forced David Cameron’s government to give Britain a referendum on EU membership. Like him or not, he will be written about in history for that success.
Moments later UKIP’s new chief, Diane James, took to the stage as the party’s first female leader.
It is an absolute honour to be elected as @UKIP Leader. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/HCFdo2ZMdo
— Diane James (@DianeJamesMEP) September 16, 2016
Diane and I joined the party at similar stages. Diane is a business-like, efficient, articulate and effective politician. She is not a career politician. Her business background ensures she is focused on getting the job done. I congratulate her success and wish her well for the future. She will relish the challenge of building UKIP up into a fighting force for 2020 and being a strong, credible voice for the 17 million people who voted for Brexit.
After winning the referendum, there are inevitable questions about UKIP’s future. What is UKIP for? The outcome of the EU referendum has flipped British politics on its head. I truly believe that nothing will ever be the same again. UKIP has a foot in the door and is now part of the firmament of British politics. Whether it remains so and is able to capitalise on its success in 2020 is entirely down to how it addresses that fundamental question.
Diane has a vision. She is absolutely right to say that in the short term, UKIP must remain a loud and relevant voice in ensuring that Britain gets the best deal from leaving the European Union. It was clear that Britain must take full control of its borders and reduce net migration. It was clear that Britain must not continue to pay into the EU budget. Diane has made it clear that not being part of the single market with any freedom of movement to the EU was what the Leave campaign was about. UKIP will campaign on this and ensure this is part of the deal the Government makes.
UKIP is the only party that can and will stand up for 17.4m people who voted for Britain to leave the EU. pic.twitter.com/r4LMopRS7M
— Diane James (@DianeJamesMEP) September 18, 2016
UKIP and Diane face some real challenges and hurdles along the way. If she deals with them now then the party’s success is limitless. She is a realistic and pragmatic politician capable of recognising those challenges.
UKIP needs structural reform. I am just one of many voices now within the party that believes the NEC is unfit for purpose. It should be replaced with a new, more accountable body, elected by the regions. The party needs a business-like structure – from the way it raises money to its candidate selection process. Our success has outgrown the party structures in recent years. This is the perfect time to re-evaluate and restructure accordingly.
The party also needs a long-term strategy on identifying and campaigning in target seats, especially in those Labour constituencies which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit. If the party puts in place a target-seat strategy for 2020, we could see more UKIP MPs elected. However, it must sit alongside a strategy for local elections and funding.
I've just closed my first party conference as UKIP Leader. We are the opposition party in waiting. pic.twitter.com/MhTNZblwFR
— Diane James (@DianeJamesMEP) September 17, 2016
There is no doubt that the party has talent, but often it has been ignored. Candidate selection, training and identification needs to be placed firmly in the eye of the party with a good structure led with appropriate financing and political oversight by those able to identify and nurture its representatives of the future.
UKIP is a broad church, like most parties, and the splits at the top of the party have dominated media coverage of it in recent months. However, more critically, UKIP must redefine who we are, what we stand for and what we want to achieve. In post-Brexit politics, the British people, who are hungry for change, want to know what our values and principles are.
I’ve not been shy about what I think UKIP needs to focus on to broaden its appeal. For me, UKIP has to be the party of social mobility – a party that believes in the resurgence of Britain as a global player and the resurgence of the British people. It must also be a party that is patriotic and one that believes we only succeed as a nation when we all succeed together – from the bottom to the top.
But most importantly, we are a party that represents the people against the establishment.
If we do the right things now, we put the structures in place and re-mark our stamp on British people, then UKIP will go from strength to strength.
Steven Woolfe is MEP for North West England
