London: First time since WWII, the UK Independence Party has won nearly a quarter of the vote in local elections. UKIP has so far won 140 council seats in 35 councils nationwide, meaning that the party had polled roughly 25 per cent of the vote.
Among their victories was taking Lincolnshire County Council in east England from the Conservative party, leading to the founders of the Conservative Home blog, Lord Ashcroft and Stephan Shakespeare, to state:
“The Lincolnshire result, in particular, is disappointing. Even in 2005 the Conservatives had a substantial majority – the result last time in 2009 increased that majority still further.” The party also won its first seats in Dorset and Somerset, and took five seats in Norfolk and won Tunbridge Wells East from the Conservatives: 1,386 to 1,005. The Conservatives held the council’s remaining five seats.
