Q&A: UK Independence Party
Updated: 11:55am UK, Friday 03 May 2013
UKIP's leader said the party's strong showing at the local elections will send "shockwaves" through Westminster. But who is behind the party, how has it grown and what is it campaigning for?
:: What is UKIP?
The UK Independence Party was founded in 1993. It calls itself "the only party standing up for Britain and the British people". UKIP gained its first seats in the European Parliament in 1999 and within a decade it had won another 10. Earlier this year, the party came second to the Liberal Democrats in the Eastleigh by-election, winning 28% of the vote - the party's best ever Westminster result.
:: Who leads the party?
Nigel Farage. He was elected as an MEP for South East England in 1999 and took over as UKIP leader 11 years later, following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch.
:: What does UKIP want?
The party is best known for its opposition to the EU - "not because we hate Europe, or foreigners, or anyone at all," the party's website states, "but because it's undemocratic, expensive, bossy - and we still haven't been asked whether we want to be in it".
UKIP wants the country to be governed from within the UK, not Brussels, and claims a withdrawal from the EU would save billions of pounds every year.
:: What about its other policies?
UKIP would pull out of the European Convention of Human Rights, which it claims would ease the deportation of foreign criminals and terror suspects.
On health, the party says it would hand over the majority of spending to elected county health boards, which would be accountable to local people.
It has also proposed a £13,000 annual tax-free allowance and a 25% flat rate of income tax.
:: Does UKIP have any MPs?
No. The party fielded 558 candidates in the last General Election but none were elected.
:: How about any MEPs?
The party is represented in the European Parliament by 12 MEPs, including Mr Farage and the party's deputy leader Paul Nuttall.
:: Have there been any controversies?
The party is embroiled in a row with the Conservatives, which it has accused of running a "coordinated smear campaign". Cabinet minister Ken Clarke fuelled the row by calling party members "clowns", while Prime Minister David Cameron once said UKIP members were mostly "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".
Most recently, Alex Wood, a county council candidate, was suspended by UKIP after a photo of him allegedly making a Nazi-style salute appeared in a national newspaper. Mr Farage said the 22-year-old had been trying to stop his girlfriend taking photos of him "imitating a pot plant".
In 2010, Mr Farage infamously said the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, had "the charisma of a damp rag".
:: Just how strong was UKIP's performance at this year's local elections?
The party estimates it will win around one million votes - more than a quarter of the total. It is on course to beat the 920,000 votes it won at the General Election in 2010, when more people were eligible to vote.
:: How much does the party spend and how is it funded?
Figures released by the Electoral Commission show UKIP spent more than £2m contesting the 2010 General Election - the bulk of which (£920,000) went on advertising and publicity material. In 2012, UKIP received more than £310,000 from 66 donations.
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