Change UK and how not run a party as Nigel Farage surges ahead over Brexit – Bill Carmichael

IF you were looking for a prime example of how not to run a political campaign, you could do no better than to use the new centrist party, Change UK, as your case study.
These MPs have had many guises since they left the Labour  and Tory parties to form a new Independent Group at Westminster which then became known as Change UK.These MPs have had many guises since they left the Labour  and Tory parties to form a new Independent Group at Westminster which then became known as Change UK.
These MPs have had many guises since they left the Labour and Tory parties to form a new Independent Group at Westminster which then became known as Change UK.

Well thought-out campaigns have a clarity of purpose and a simple, clear, consistent message that is easily understood by voters, many of whom don’t read the news or take much interest in politics.

Change UK has neither. In fact the only thing it has managed to change so far is its name, which has gone through numerous confusing iterations and re-launches.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party have a clear message according to columnist Bill Carmichael.Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party have a clear message according to columnist Bill Carmichael.
Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party have a clear message according to columnist Bill Carmichael.

So far we’ve had The Independent Group, TIG, Change UK, Change UK: The Independent Group and something vaguely known as the Remain Alliance. None of these, except perhaps for the last one, give any clue as to what the new party is about.

This week the group switched its website name from voteforchange.uk 
to theindependent.group and re-launched its Twitter account with yet another different name – @ForChange_Now.

The changes of message are coming so thick and fast, so I may have missed a couple, but one thing is at least clear – it is a confusing mess that is unlikely to inspire confidence amongst the voting public.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Contrast this with another new party launched recently – Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. No one can be in any doubt what this party is about – the clue is in the title – and the message is consistent and focused.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that the Brexit Party is topping the polls for this month’s European Parliament elections, well ahead of Labour and the Conservatives, while Change UK, or whatever they are calling themselves this morning, have barely made a dent in public consciousness.

Change UK is a vague, meaningless title and you could even argue it is misleading. That’s because the central policy of Change UK is to remain in the European Union. So Change UK’s principle aim is not to change the UK. It would be more accurate if they called themselves the Status Quo party.

One of its alternative names – The Remain Alliance – is also misleading because the party has specifically ruled out forming any kind of alliance with the other Remain parties, such as the Lib Dems and the Green Party.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

So let’s get this straight – Change UK doesn’t want the UK to change, and 
The Remain Alliance doesn’t want an alliance with anyone else. Pure comedy gold.

As a result of this chaos, the Remain side of the argument for this month’s elections is fractured, disorganised and disunited. The Lib Dems and the Green Party, which both did well in the local elections, must be tearing their hair out because any momentum from those successes looks likely to be dissipated.

The risk is that the Remain vote may well be split amongst numerous camps – Change UK, Lib Dems and Greens. Some will even stick with Labour in the vain hope that Jeremy Corbyn will eventually climb down off the fence and back Remain – although the evidence that this is likely to happen is very thin. Corbyn is hostile to the EU. Always has been and always will be.

But while the Labour vote has stagnated at best, the real story of the local elections was an unprecedented collapse in Conservative support and 
loss of more than 1,300 councillors 
who had absolutely no responsibility 
for the mess made by the party leadership over Brexit.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the very bad news is that things are unlikely to improve in the European elections – in fact I suspect they are going to get much worse.

All those voters who stayed at home, all those voters who spoiled their ballot papers, and even those who reluctantly backed Tory councillors last time around out of personal loyalty, will turn out in their droves – but they are unlikely to vote Conservative.

Instead the most likely destination for their votes is Farage’s Brexit Party, which could be heading for a significant result. Already the buoyancy, the optimism, the enthusiastic crowds of the Brexit Party’s high-energy rallies are reminiscent of the ‘Corbyn surge’ that drove Labour to a much better than expected general election result in 2017.

It is less than two weeks to go to the election. Hold onto your hats because this is going to be a bumpy ride!