Rochester and Strood by-election: Britain First claims credit for success of Ukip campaign
Prior to the start of the vote today, Nigel Farage’s party was firmly odds-on to secure its second MP in Mark Reckless
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.With the Tory defector Mark Reckless forecast to win the hotly-contested by-election in Rochester and Strood today, his rivals on the ballot paper Britain First have suggested they only campaigned “to bolster the Ukip campaign”.
Prior to the start of the vote some bookmakers had Nigel Farage’s party as huge 1/100 favourites to take the seat, which would make Mr Reckless their second MP at the expense of the Conservative Party.
And with things going so smoothly for Ukip, the far right-wing group Britain First has tried to claim some of the credit.
In a post on its Facebook page, which has more than 580,000 likes, the self-professed “patriotic political party and street defence organisation” posted a picture for followers to print out expressing support for Mr Reckless.
Britain First did have its own candidate running in what was its first election campaign, its deputy leader Jayda Fransen.
But in a statement the group said: “Britain First did not stand in this election to attract votes.
“Our aim in this election was to gain attention and to bolster the UKIP campaign. On both counts, it seems we were successful. Good luck UKIP and Mark Reckless.”
The help is unlikely to be welcomed by Mr Farage, since Ukip tried to reject “any association” with Britain First at the end of last month.
After a group of Ukip activists were pictured posing with Ms Fransen in Rochester, a party spokesperson said they had not understood “the nature of the group” and added: “A mistake of this nature will not happen again.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments