Piers Merchant - UKIP's own returning officer - on the invalidity of the Eastern Region selection process

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

UKIP LIST SELECTION PROCESS, 2008

I was officially appointed as Returning Officer for the UKIP internal elections which were to decide on the regional list candidates for the 2009 European Elections.

My duties were not clearly defined but included supervision of the election campaign and of the subsequent count.

I was appointed after the shortlisting process and therefore took no part in that. However, it was not entirely clear to what extent my remit extended to scrutinising the validity of the shortlisted candidates. Returning Officers normally have some responsibility for ensuring candidates are correctly nominated.

During the course of the election campaign I received complaints on almost a daily basis. Many of these were about the validity of the candidates and often about the process of shortlisting . I formed a view that something had gone wrong in various regions and in some it was sufficient to tarnish the election process itself.

I was placed in a practical position where I had to rule at various times in the campaign whether or not a candidate was a valid candidate because of a chorus of complaints and questions.
I was very keen to try not to disrupt the complex voting process once it had started and so where there were complaints that looked credible I said I would make a final ruling after the count. I could then take an overall view and also give parties a chance to re-consider their position in the light of the results.

In my official report to the National Executive Council ( which I can make available), I stated that I considered the overall position in both the Eastern and London untenable. As far as the Eastern region was concerned I formally recommended that a special sub-committee be set up with a remit to investigate all the complaints and determine how to resolve them.

To my surprise the NEC rejected this recommendation after a very brief discussion which I believe was quite inadequate and, furthermore, decided to take no action at all.

Given the complete failure to even investigate the serious and continuing complaints and given all my original concerns, it is my considered view as Returning Officer that the results of the internal election in the Eastern Region are unsafe and invalid and that the entire process should be re-run.

Piers Merchant
12 February 2009

UKIP's leadership can't even conduct an internal election without it becoming corrupted.

As you can see NONE of the UKIP's Eastern Region candidates should be standing as the whole Eastern Region selection process is invalid.

If you live in the Eastern Region don't vote for UKIP on June 4th!