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U.K. Independence Party May Win Parliament Seat in Clacton-on-Sea U.K. Independence Party May Win Parliament Seat in Clacton-on-Sea
(about 2 hours later)
CLACTON-ON-SEA, England — This fraying seaside town northeast of London is known for its pier and for having one of the highest proportions of retired people in the country. LONDON — The populist, right-wing U.K. Independence Party scored a striking political success early Friday, winning a seat in the British Parliament for the first time, coming close to securing a second and confirming its place as a potent threat to the country’s mainstream parties.
“A friendly resort, trying not to die,” Matthew Parris, a columnist and former Conservative lawmaker, wrote in The Times of London last month. His article created a furor here, in part because he went on to say, “Only in Asmara after Eritrea’s bloody war have I encountered a greater proportion of citizens on crutches or in wheelchairs.” Opposed to immigration and to British membership in the European Union, the party, known as UKIP, had already made big gains in European and local elections, often at the expense of the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Whatever their state of health, voters here could make history in a parliamentary by-election on Thursday if they pick a lawmaker from the populist U.K. Independence Party, known as UKIP, allowing the party to enter the House of Commons for the first time. Early Friday, the U.K. Independence Party went one better by winning the Westminster Parliament seat that had long eluded it from the Conservatives by a large margin in a by-election in the south of England. It ran a close second to the opposition Labour Party in a second contest in the north.
The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, frets that the U.K. Independence Party, which opposes immigration and wants Britain to leave the European Union, could go on to win enough votes in next year’s general election to deprive the Conservatives of victory. The victory for the U.K. Independence Party, which had once been ridiculed and derided by establishment politicians, came in the coastal resort of Clacton-on-Sea, where a by-election was caused by the defection of the Conservative lawmaker Douglas Carswell.  
The opposition Labour Party also faced a challenge Thursday from the U.K. Independence Party in a separate by-election in Heywood and Middleton, on the outskirts of Manchester. Though Labour is unlikely to lose, it worries that some of its traditional support may be shifting. Mr. Carswell, who had represented Clacton-on-Sea since 2010, was seeking re-election under the banner of the U.K. Independence Party. The results of the vote, which took place Thursday, were announced early Friday, and Mr. Carswell was elected with 21,113 votes, with his Conservative rival finishing second with 8,709 votes.
Despite successes in European elections, the U.K. Independence Party has never won a parliamentary seat in Britain. Its leader, the charismatic Nigel Farage, told The Daily Telegraph that victory in Clacton-on-Sea would shift the tectonic plates of British politics, while a win in both seats would be a “Krakatau moment.” The Labour Party received a scare in a separate by-election in Heywood and Middleton, on the outskirts of Manchester, a constituency Labour would normally expect to win comfortably. 
With higher-than-average unemployment and lower-than-average wages, Clacton-on-Sea is typical of towns where the established parties are losing support. In that contest, caused by the death of a Labour lawmaker, the Labour candidate, Liz McInnes, won by only 617 votes more than the U.K. Independence Party candidate. The populist party increased its share of the vote to about 39 percent from about 3 percent in the last general election, in 2010. Across Europe, populist parties have been making gains, and the Conservatives are concerned that the U.K. Independence Party could skim off enough votes in next year’s general election to deprive them of victory.  Since Mr. Carswell quit, Mr. Cameron, turned 48 Thursday, has suffered the defection to the U.K. Independence Party of another lawmaker, Mark Reckless.
“I would put my house and my career on UKIP winning Clacton,” said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Nottingham. “There are a lot of old, white working-class pensioners, few middle-class university graduates and few minorities — in short, a lot of people who like to vote for UKIP and relatively few of those who don’t.”  “This is very significant because this is UKIP’s first elected member of Parliament in its 21-year history,” said Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics at the University of Nottingham. “It may well encourage other defections among members of the radical right wing flank of the Conservative party.”
For the Conservatives, the by-election is doubly unnerving as the party loses both voters and members to the U.K. Independence Party. Before the result, the U.K. Independence Party’s leader, the charismatic Nigel Farage, told The Daily Telegraph that victory in Clacton-on-Sea would shift the tectonic plates of politics, while a win in both seats would be a “Krakatoa moment.”
The U.K. Independence Party’s candidate in Clacton-on-Sea is the former Conservative lawmaker Douglas Carswell, a popular local figure who won the seat for the Tories in 2010. Mark Reckless, another Conservative lawmaker, has also defected. Because Britain’s electoral system disadvantages small parties, the U.K. Independence Party is unlikely to win a significant number of seats in next year’s general election, but it could secure enough to influence the outcome.
As he knocked on doors in the driving rain this week, Mr. Carswell said the mainstream parties were out of touch. The voters — or, as he put it, “the customers” — are “getting a bum deal from the political system right across the country; that’s felt particularly strongly here.” When one voter stopped him, he promised to take up her complaints about inadequate street lighting and policing. Moreover, its success on Thursday shows that many voters are disenchanted with the mainstream parties.
He called Mr. Parris’s article “sneering, condescending, obnoxious and very sad”; he rejected the idea that voters here feel left behind or ignored. With higher-than-average unemployment and lower-than-average wages, Clacton-on-Sea is typical of the places where Britain’s established parties are losing support. “There are a lot of old, white, working-class pensioners, few middle-class university graduates and few minorities — in short a lot of people who like to vote for UKIP and relatively few of those who don’t,” Professor Goodwin said.
But some disagree. Since the 1960s, Clacton-on-Sea has struggled to adapt to a decline in tourism as vacationers go abroad to more affordable, sunnier beaches. To the annoyance of some residents, vacant accommodation is now used to house welfare recipients or newly released prisoners. Others have been less polite. “A friendly resort, trying not to die,” Matthew Parris, a columnist and former Conservative lawmaker, wrote in The Times of London last month. His article created a furor, in part because he went on to say, “Only in Asmara after Eritrea’s bloody war have I encountered a greater proportion of citizens on crutches or in wheelchairs.”
While parts of the constituency are affluent, the suburb of Jaywick, which has many simple one-story beachside homes, was described in a government study as one of the country’s most deprived neighborhoods. Speaking on Wednesday as he knocked on doors alone in the driving rain, Mr. Carswell said he believed that the mainstream parties were out of touch. Voters — or, as he puts it, “the customers” — are “getting a bum deal from the political system right across the country — that’s felt particularly strongly here.”  When one voter stopped him, he promised to take up her complaints about street lighting and policing.
“People around here believe that Jaywick has been forgotten and that the government does not support it,” said Andrew McGeever, 32, the manager of the local pharmacy. There is high demand for medication to treat diabetes and lung diseases, he said, with health problems often caused by “poor lifestyle, heavy use of drink or drugs.” Mr. Carswell described the article by Mr. Parris as “sneering, condescending, obnoxious and very sad,” and rejected the idea that voters here feel left behind.
Mr. McGeever, who said he planned to vote Conservative, added, “People are disillusioned here, and a high proportion don’t vote because they feel it doesn’t make any difference.” But some disagree. Since the 1960s, Clacton-on-Sea, once a popular resort, has struggled to adapt to a decline in tourism as vacationers head abroad to affordable beaches in the sun. To the annoyance of some residents, vacant accommodation is now used to house people on welfare or recently released from prison.
Mary Barber, 57, who works at a museum near Clacton’s pier, said she planned to vote for the U.K. Independence Party because she felt let down by other leaders. Immigration needs to be reined in, said Ms. Barber, who most recently voted for Labour. “We haven’t got enough jobs for our own people even without letting other people come in and take them over,” she added. While parts of the constituency are affluent, the suburb of Jaywick, which has many simple, one-story beachside homes, featured top in one 2010 league table of the country’s most deprived neighborhoods.
The cabinet office minister, Francis Maude, out campaigning for the Conservative candidate, Giles Watling, said Wednesday that 3,500 jobs had been created in the area in recent years. He urged voters to stick with his party, arguing that in the 2015 general election the choice would be between the Tories and Labour. “People around here believe that Jaywick has been forgotten and that the government does not support it,” said Andrew McGeever, manager of the local pharmacy.
But at the moment, some voters who would seem natural Conservative supporters are following Mr. Carswell. There was high demand for medication to treat diabetes and lung diseases, he said. Health problems were often caused by “poor lifestyle, heavy use of drink or drugs,” added Mr. McGeever, 32, who said he planned to vote Conservative. “People are disillusioned here and a high proportion don’t vote because they feel it doesn’t make any difference.”
“We are the forgotten child of Essex,” said Stephen Woodward, 32, the owner of the Taste coffee shop, referring to the county. Mr. Woodward said his business was profitable year-round partly because it welcomes older customers. But Clacton, he said, has failed to adapt to changing times.
Some local stores “haven’t had a lick of paint since the 1960s,” he said. “Part of the reason for UKIP’s success is because we need change and the Conservative government has not made that happen.”
Mr. Woodward planned to vote Conservative in next year’s general election, but not on Thursday, when he opted for the U.K. Independence Party. “It’s a way to send a message,” he said.