‘How is the centre-left – not only in Britain, but all centre-left parties – going to deal with these radical right revolts? Their appeal is strongest not among rightwing voters; their appeal is strongest among centre-left, blue-collar workers who are already instinctively Eurosceptic and hostile to immigration and anxious and insecure. The centre-left is very reluctant to open up a conversation about values and identity and community.’
Matthew Goodwin, University of Nottingham, and Associate Fellow, Europe Programme, Chatham House
‘I think the protest vote thing is very interesting. I went down the high street in Eastleigh and people came up to me and said: ‘Mr Farage, we’re not protest voters – we haven’t voted for 20 years.’ Over one in five of our votes come from people who would be deemed to be non-voters. Almost by definition, that can’t be protest.’
Nigel Farage, UKIP leader