Ukip is the sleaziest and most disreputable party in Britain, voters say

Voters rate the party as nearly as sleazy as bankers

Nigel Farage debates with Labour’s Ed Miliband on ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ (EPA)

Voters think UKIP is the most sleazy political party in Britain, a new poll has found.

63% of people branded Ukip “sleazy and disreputable” in the latest YouGov poll compared to 44% for the Conservatives and 33% for Labour.

Of all the national parties the Green Party had the best reputation, accused of sleaze by only 12% of voters. 31% of people thought the Liberal Democrats were sleazy.

Ukip’s sleaze rating was up 4% since December, when 59% of people called its reputation into question.

The right-wing party had only a slightly better reputation than the bête noir of public opinion – bankers. Most people, 69%, considered bankers sleazy – just 6% above Ukip.

The findings come after another poll last month in which around half of Ukip supporters admitted to being racially prejudiced.

A string of rows over Ukip candidates and elected representatives is likely to have tarnished the party’s image.

Janice Atkinson MEP was expelled from the party on Monday night after allegations one of her aides asked for an inflated restaurant bill to claim on expenses.

Another Ukip MEP, Jill Seymour, came under fire earlier this week for renting an office from her husband using taxpayers’ money.

Earlier this month MEP David Coburn faced calls to resign after he compared an SNP minister, who is a Muslim, to the convicted terrorist Abu Hamza.

Kerry Smith, a candidate for MP in a top target seat, was deselected in December after it emerged that he had made homophobic and racist remarks and joked about shooting poor people.

In 2013 Godfrey Bloom MEP left the party after he made a controversial remark referring to women as ‘sluts’.

This February candidate Donald Grewar resigned after endorsing comments on the BNP website describing gay people are “perverts” and “paedophiles”.

Ukip council candidate William Henwood quit last April after he suggested actor Lenny Henry should emigrate to a “black country”.

A Ukip councillor David Silvester was suspended last year after he appeared to suggest that recent flooding had been caused by the passage into law of same-sex marriage.