Douglas Carswell has long been a Ukip MP in name only. Now he isn’t even that. Ukip’s sole MP, who defected from the Conservatives in 2014, has announced that he is leaving the party.
Carswell’s announcement comes as no great surprise. He has long endured a comically antagonistic relationship with Nigel Farage, who last month demanded his expulsion for the sin of failing to aid his knighthood bid. The Clacton MP’s ambition to transform Ukip into a libertarian force, rather than a reactionary one, predictably failed. With the party now often polling in single figures, below the Liberal Democrats, the MP has left a sinking ship (taking £217,000 of opposition funding or “short money” with him). As Carswell acknowledges in his statement, Brexit has deprieved Ukip of its raison d’être.
He writes: “Ukip might not have managed to win many seats in Parliament, but in a way we are the most successful political party in Britain ever. We have achieved what we were established to do – and in doing so we have changed the course of our country’s history for the better. Make no mistake; we would not be leaving the EU if it was not for Ukip – and for those remarkable people who founded, supported and sustained our party over that period.
“Our party has prevailed thanks to the heroic efforts of Ukip party members and supporters. You ensured we got a referendum. With your street stalls and leafleting, you helped Vote Leave win the referendum. You should all be given medals for what you helped make happen – and face the future with optimism.
“Like many of you, I switched to Ukip because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving Ukip.”
Though Ukip could yet recover if Theresa May disappoints anti-immigration voters, that’s not a path that the pro-migration Carswell would wish to pursue. He insists that he has no intention of returning to the Conservatives (and will not trigger a new by-election). “I will simply be the Member of Parliament for Clacton, sitting as an independent.”
Carswell’s erstwhile Conservative colleagues will no doubt delight in reminding him that he was warned.
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