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UKIP members ready for conference UKIP 'voice of British majority'
(about 7 hours later)
Members of the UK Independence Party are gathering at Telford in Shropshire for their annual conference. UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has told the party's annual conference that it speaks for the majority of British people.
One of the party's MEPs, Nigel Farage, took over the leadership from Roger Knapman last month. "I'd call us the commonsense party," he told members in Telford, Shropshire.
Mr Farage is expected to launch a bid to win over Conservative voters who may be put off by leader David Cameron's move to the centre ground. "I would say that in terms of the political spectrum and where you should place UKIP, we are at the centre-ground of British public opinion."
He will tell delegates that the UKIP represents a "real alternative" to the consensus of the three main parties. Mr Farage, elected leader last month, earlier told BBC Five Live that UKIP was the "real voice of opposition".
"This week's Conservative conference in Bournemouth confirms that there are now three social democrat parties in the UK," he will say. "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain - Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues," he said.
"The UK Independence Party is now the only real opposition to the consensus. "Frankly, you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."
"We are the party that says what the majority of people in Britain think. The challenge for UKIP is to become both professional and disciplined enough to fill the enormous vacuum that exists." He said that "a lot of people... feel like me that we're not being given a choice, we're being given no opportunity, that there is no real voice of opposition in British politics - that is what UKIP is here to provide".
Mr Farage had been expected to launch a bid to win over Conservative voters who may be put off by leader David Cameron's move to the centre ground.
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UKIP's best known policy is a pledge to withdraw the UK from the European Union if it is elected into power.UKIP's best known policy is a pledge to withdraw the UK from the European Union if it is elected into power.
But Mr Farage has pledged to end its image as a single issue pressure group.But Mr Farage has pledged to end its image as a single issue pressure group.
He told the BBC that UKIP will also be campaigning for lower tax and "a proper selective education policy".He told the BBC that UKIP will also be campaigning for lower tax and "a proper selective education policy".
The party has never had anyone elected to the House of Commons, but gained 12 Euro MPs when it finished third in 2004's European Parliament elections, with 16% of all votes. The party has never had a candidate elected to the House of Commons, but gained 12 Euro MPs when it finished third in 2004's European Parliament elections, with 16% of all votes.
UKIP did not do as well as it had hoped at last year's general election, losing its deposit in more than 450 seats, but it has come third in two recent Westminster by-elections.UKIP did not do as well as it had hoped at last year's general election, losing its deposit in more than 450 seats, but it has come third in two recent Westminster by-elections.