Readers may remember UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, saying earlier this year that some UKIP Parliamentary candidates might stand down in the 2015 general election to help ‘Eurosceptic Conservatives’ win their seats.
An Extraordinary General meeting of the Isle of Wight branch of UKIP was held on Saturday with just one person voting for their candidate to stand aside in favour of Conservative candidate, Andrew Turner.
A whopping 106 members voted for Iain McKie, the UKIP candidate for the Island, to fight for the position, with members abstaining.
OnTheWight was told that,
“The Committee of the Isle of Wight branch felt that, as sitting Conservative MP Andrew Turner was considered Eurosceptic, this could lead to confusion amongst members and the electorate in general and so called an EGM to debate the matter.
“UKIP PPC Iain McKie made the case that the EU referendum pledge made by David Cameron would not, and could not be honoured. He added that the Conservatives had a track record of breaking promises, and certainly could not be trusted to deliver on that issue. Iain also highlighted the 40 Coalition U-Turns and the 300 tax rises since 2010.
“He made the claim that with rocketing Government spending and debt levels reaching £1.4 trillion that, regardless of the referendum issue, the Conservatives were not fit to be in power. Iain ended by highlighting local issues over education, health, employment and development, and concluded that Andrew Turner had failed the Isle of Wight since 2001.”
Image: © Used with permission of Jason Swain Photography
