LONDON - The only elected MP for Britain’s UK Independence Party called for leader Nigel Farage to ‘take a break’ on Saturday, after a week in which bitter infighting engulfed the party.
Writing in The Times, Douglas Carswell said he admired Farage, but criticised some of his tactics in the lead up to Britain’s election last week. ‘UKIP is here to stay. And it is precisely because we are here to stay that we need to do what any other mature political party would do,’ Carswell wrote. ‘Even leaders need to take a break. Nigel needs to take a break now.’
He argued the party needed to broaden its appeal and persuade voters from across the political spectrum that Britain should leave the European Union in a referendum expected by 2017 - UKIP’s principle aim. ‘UKIP needs to strike the right tone,’ Carswell wrote. ‘Strident euroscepticism won’t do it.’ UKIP won 12.6 percent of votes across Britain in the May 7 vote, but under Britain’s electoral system Carswell was their only candidate to be elected to parliament.
Farage stepped down after he failed to win his own seat, but later backtracked and said he was still leader as the party’s National Executive Committee had refused his resignation. A fight ensued between Carswell and the UKIP leadership over funding, prompting the departure of two senior advisers to the party. Former party treasurer and a major donor Stuart Wheeler has called for Farage to step down, while other senior party figures have declared their support for the former commodities trader.
Speaking on a BBC debate show on Thursday, Farage dismissed those criticising him as ‘people letting off steam’ and said he should remain as leader. ‘The level of support for me in the party is phenomenal and frankly, to go through a leadership contest would be a massive, massive mistake,’ Farage said.