Nick Smith

It may have been a shock result nationally, but here in Lincoln we knew our chances of winning this seat were slim. However, with our meagre resources, my small band of political commandos set about their task to disrupt and influence the Lincoln political scene, both at Parliamentary and local level. This we achieved in large measure coming third in the general election — a very good outcome, also retaining our deposit and increasing our vote share by 10% on our 2010 result.

As a party, I think we gave a good account of ourselves in every constituency in the county greatly increasing our vote take and building a strong base for the next election. Our success across the county in winning seats at a local level on East Lindsey and Boston borough council shows that we can kick the front door of local government down. The City of Lincoln Council’s time will come.

There is no doubt that we are now the third party in Lincoln politics.

In the local elections, in both the City and in North Kesteven district councils this year, we greatly increased our vote numbers across all the wards we stood in: Bracebridge Heath and Waddington East, with a full compliment of three candidates who came in a credible third. We gained four parish council seats, two on the Bracebridge Heath parish and two on the Waddington East parish. It was the first time we have fielded candidates in the parish elections in North Kesteven.

We will continue putting pressure on the old parties at all levels of local government, not letting them have an easy ride. I know that both old parties worked harder than ever to secure their wins in both national and local this year, and we are in no small part the cause of much sweat and anguish in their ranks. The only thing that protected them in the end nationally was the fear of the jocks being in bed with Labour and ruling the roost.

We of course fell foul of our old friend, the absurd electoral system which would make even Robert Mugabe blush — yes the ‘first past the post’ voting system, the last bulwark of the scoundrel. We have to stop this lurch from red to blue, we deserve a more representative Parliament, that reflects the votes cast by the electorate.

We will only have a truly engaging parliamentary government when this happens. The voters will re-engage when they see all their votes hitting the target and can see their views represented by the MPs sitting on the green benches. Until then, turnouts will stagnate and a growing feeling of disenchantment will embrace the voting and non–voting populace.

All we can do is bash on regardless until the public wise up to the fact they are being played like fiddles every time. Continuing to do the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome is the true sign of insanity.

Looking forward, we cannot give up the battle. It is too important and to this end, we will have a large contingent of candidates in next year’s City of Lincoln Council elections, which will see all thirty three councillors elected, because of boundary changes to two wards and a change of name to one ward, Bracebridge will become Witham.

I am sure we will have our breakthrough next year and see the diversity that this council so desperately requires, with a splash of purple.

I believe that after a well deserved rest that Nigel Farage will stand for re-election as our leader, but if he chooses not to, we have some very good contenders in the wings, like Steven Wolfe MEP or Suzanne Evans our Deputy Chairman and author of the 2015 manifesto.

So all in all UKIP has a bright future and we will continue to harass our political adversaries at every turn, until we get an Independent Britain.

Nick Smith is the UKIP candidate for Lincoln MP and the Chairman of UKIP Lincoln Constituency Association.

What an exciting General Elections we are about to have! I am sure that is exactly what you are thinking out there in Lincoln. Well, I can only tell you that I, like many of you, am going to be fascinated by the outcome, as no one seems to be able to predict it at all. I think it is obvious that many people want change and are fed up with the two largest parties, who have dominated politics for too long, as many of you have voted for them all your lives but to no avail, change has not come to your lives — well, not the kind you wanted.

Read the columns from all the Lincoln MP candidates on our Elections 2015 page

That’s the main reason that I joined UKIP back in 2004, and here we are now heading into the 2015 General Elections. I am inspired by the people I have already met so far out on the streets of Lincoln, Bracebridge Heath and Waddington and of course Skellingthorpe; it has been very positive as the Parliamentary candidate to see so much support.

Let’s hope change comes this time for you. All across the country UKIP will be fielding 600 plus Parliamentary candidates, every seat in Lincolnshire of course, and thousands of local candidates nationwide. We have here in Lincoln, a full house of City of Lincoln Council candidates for you to vote for in every ward; we are very much hoping to break into the City Council this time, as it would do the council good to have more diversity in it, a little purple perhaps to brighten their day. We only just missed winning Birchwood Ward with Tony Wells last year and he is hopeful for a win this year, with your support.

We have three candidates for the North Kesteven District Council in Bracebridge Heath and Waddington East Ward this year, and hope to put some purple into an otherwise dull NKDC. We are also fielding one candidate for the Skellingthorpe Ward in NKDC and are hopeful from the response in Skellingthorpe to break in here as well. So everywhere that you live in the Lincoln parliamentary borough, you will have the chance to vote for change and ‘Believe in Britain’.

I must stress that this is it! There isn’t another election for you to decide the future direction of your country, this is the only chance you get to change direction and choose on the big issues. There is no greater election, so make sure you use that vote, anyone who tells you, ‘my vote doesn’t count!’, tell them about my wife Jane who was elected in 2013 to the Hartsholme Ward of the Lincolnshire County Council by one vote!

Don’t just think about what you want for Lincoln, mostly this is delivered by our councils. Think about where you want our country to be in ten years from now, and which party has the plan and best suits your beliefs, and you will get the Lincoln you want.

Remember this is about our country not just Lincoln, I know our awful electoral system tries to make you think about each constituency in isolation. This is the way they want you to vote, it keeps the status quo, it stops you voting the way you believe and forces you to support the two party state. Try not to fall for the old mind tricks, or change can never come to this country.

Let’s make history in Lincoln together and make the country’s oldest constituency its most vibrant, and put some purple on the map. Remember it’s your future, we can’t change it without your support.

Nick Smith is the UKIP candidate for Lincoln MP and the Chairman of UKIP Lincoln Constituency Association.

David Cameron offered up lots of promises at the party’s conference this week if you vote for a Conservative government in 2015, but did you notice that all the proposed tax cuts will not come into force until 2017/18? Basically, he is trying to get elected twice with the same tax cuts, as by the time some of his promises come into effect we will be getting ready to tackle the 2020 General Election.

Of course, UKIP has costed out tax proposals, like scrapping inheritance tax, with further tax cuts coming in as soon as Britain leaves the EU. Unlike the Conservatives, we can start our program straight after the 2015 election as our funding comes from the savings by leaving the EU and reducing drastically the Foreign Aid budget. This will be available year on year, and not just making savings out of the existing budgets and waiting for growth, which seems to be the Conservatives and Labour’s big plan.

Mr Cameron’s tough stance on the EU is a little less tough when you hear what the EU commissioners have said in the past about the free movement of people within the union. Claims by the PM that a future Conservative government could restrict the numbers of immigrants coming to Britain from the European Union were dismissed today by the new European Commissioner in charge of employment and labour mobility, who said she is “not prepared” to consider giving Britain back control of its borders or allow Britain to restrict the access of EU immigrants to Britain.

Here in Lincoln, we have the sad news that the Lib Dems are having to start again with their Parliamentary selection after David Harding-Price has withdrawn his candidacy, and with Karl McCartney and Lucy Rigby using their columns to claim the prize of ‘who wants to have the best train set in Lincolnshire’, I would like to point out that in times when the country’s funds are limited, this is a policy for the few not the many.

I would like to see rail improvement only when we are flush with cash. I believe that a future MP for Lincoln should be aiming to get any scant government resources for road improvements. My plan if elected will be to gain some extra funds to give to Lincolnshire County Council to dual carriage our proposed Eastern Bypass, as it will have to be upgraded at a later stage anyway as Lincoln grows. It is false economy to have it built as a single carriageway.

Secondly, I’ll push for funds to be allocated for upgrading the A15 in parts to a dual carriageway. This would save lives and would attract more businesses to Lincolnshire and ergo more jobs for the people of Lincoln.

Remember that not a single item of goods comes in or out of Lincoln by train. Goods travel through Lincoln yes, but every single thing we have in our fine city comes in and out by road. At least 80% of the people of Lincoln will use our road network either by bus or car many times a week. I would wager that it is less than 5% of our population uses the railway on a regular basis.

Every pound invested in roads is a pound used for the many not the few.

To clarify, I am not against investment in rail, as it is important, but it cannot be our top priority for the city. If Labour and the Conservatives dream comes to fruition and the London to Lincoln rail link is made quick and easy, then Lincoln will become a commuter destination, so house prices will rise, and we already have a major problem with the disparity between house prices and wages in this city. Let’s not make things worse for our struggling prospective homeowners.

Nick Smith is the UKIP candidate for Lincoln MP and the Chairman of UKIP Lincoln Constituency Association.