Explaining Support for the UK Independence Party at the 2009 European Parliament Elections

Abstract

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) achieved its best result in the 2009 European elections, beating the governing Labour Party into second place. Despite its recent success we still know relatively little about who votes for the party and how these supporters compare with those of UKIP's competitors. This article analyses support for UKIP at the 2009 European elections first at the aggregate level, to understand the social and economic context in which the party performs best, and second at the individual level using a YouGov survey of over 32,000 voters, more than 4,000 of whom were UKIP supporters. We show that Euroscepticism is the biggest explanatory factor but that UKIP voters are also concerned about immigration and show dissatisfaction with and a lack of trust in the political system. Our findings add credence to the argument that views on European integration matter in voters' decisions at European elections and we show how the balance of attitudinal explanations of UKIP support makes its voters distinct from those voting for far right parties.