I hung out with the future leaders of UKIP and they’re actually okay

What did you do with your Saturday? Recover from Friday night? Prepare for your big night out? Breathe a sigh of relief the uni week was over (perhaps while crying on your way to work?).

Here’s what I did. Last Saturday, I became part of the future of Great Britain – according to UKIP’s Young Leaders’ South West division.

By now many of you may be wondering how or why I decided to spend my Saturday this way, especially as my personal politics have always skewed left of centre.

I was going with my friend Ricky, a former football buddy who used to have no interest in politics but now ardently believes in Britain exiting the EU, among other things.

After several months of him lecturing me about what “the future” was going to look like, I succumbed to the pressure and my own curiosity and volunteered for a trip into the lion’s den.

We were among the first to arrive at the extremely purple tent where the day’s event was being held. Getting there so early meant there was plenty of time to rub shoulders with some ardent UKIP types.

Hard to think of a more fitting venue for a UKIP event

The first person I met was Chairperson Dan Evans, who was in an easy going mood and more than happy to chat about politics and the media. After letting slip why I was there, he was quickly on the defensive about how UKIP is portrayed in the media.

He said bluntly: “I think it’s down to fear, they’re scared of us”.

Having never been to an event like this before, I asked Dan roughly how many attendees he was expecting.

“If I’m honest, I want at least 100 people here today but with the weather (wet, cold and windy) I’d expect about 60.”

At this point the number of people there was in single figures. Moving on from Dan, I was approached by the day’s most colourful character: Ernie Warrender, the UKIP Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-Super-Mare.

Ernie is the kind of man who could easily be mistaken for a local pub landlord, so you could say he fits right in with UKIP. Earnest and approachable, Ernie seemed like the kind of man who would be far more interested in telling old stories or talking about the football than politics.

He kept describing his Weston-Super-Mare office as a “shop” in an endearing fashion, encouraging me to pay a visit.

Swear I’ve seen this tent at a wedding before

Soon after, the event was starting. What followed was basically a day-long university lecture that turns out to be surprisingly engaging.

Speaker after speaker – including two teenagers who had joined the party at 14 (Ed Piska) and 15 (Lauren Gilbert) – stood up and announced their intention to run for parliament.

There were the usual soundbites – taking down the establishment, giving Britain control over it’s own affairs, Brussels, “belief”, “principles”.

There was also the attraction of the day, Harjit Gill – a recent defector from the Labour Party who had made headlines.

A typical piece of UKIP literature

Perhaps unsurprisingly given my earlier conversation with Dan, there was also plenty of references to UKIP’s negative press. By lunch, I’d heard the phrase “what the media don’t tell you” so often I could have invented a drinking game.

After lunch, young representatives from five political parties – Labour, Conservatives, Greens and UKIP, along with a member of the youth parliament – sat down for a cross party debate, an astonishing feat given their grown up equivalents can’t agree on who they should and shouldn’t debate with.

Me (right) with a member of the Green Party youth wing

Astonishingly, what followed wasn’t the bitter snark and one-upmanship we’re so used to seeing from politicians, but a polite, respectful conversation. In a way, it was heartening to see young people of different political leanings talking to each other like human beings should.

I’d gone into the day expecting to spend it bumping into UKIP loonies, but apart from someone saying foreign drivers should have to pay road tax, there was barely a hint of xenophobia.

Instead, away from the caricatures and over-blown personalities I found a lot of genuine people who really think UKIP can be a force for good in Britain.

They might not be right, but once the old guard have moved on, there’ll probably be no more talk of Bongo-Bongo land and the young people I met will instead be representing a party that can be a credible alternative to the major three parties.

Until then, their fight for respectability carries on.