UKIP: A message from Tim Congdon to his supporters

This email has been sent to us by a Congdon supporter. It comes as no surprise to hear that Farage and his sycophants are attempting to smear Mr Congdon by claiming that he is "disloyal to UKIP" and is "bad on TV".

So standing against Farage is now deemed disloyal? How very Stalin! What next? The firing squad for those who can't bring themselves to worship our Nigel??

And what of the bad on TV jibe? Judge for yourself by clicking on the two videos below. We feel that Mr Congdon is more than competent in front of the cameras. And Farage should be reminded of a single important fact - there is more to leadership than uttering a few soundbites on the telly.

To be a good leader you need integrity, decency, commitment, compassion, intelligence, the willingness to listen to other points of view and loyalty to the cause.

Farage has NONE of the qualities. He can't even remain loyal to his wife or his wedding vows! Farage is only loyal to himself and his desire to line his own pockets at the expense of the taxpayer.

Dear friends and supporters,

The first hustings in the 2010 UKIP leadership campaign were held in Tiverton on Tuesday, 28th September. A video of the hustings exchanges will soon be available on the website, but in the meantime I thought I would let you know about two YouTube videos that were prepared just before the hustings proper.

The first video explains why I want to lead UKIP; the second is a discussion of the current dilemmas and prospects of the Eurozone economies, with particular attention being paid to Ireland. The UK was hugely fortunate to avoid participation in the European single currency experiment.

We did well to stay outside the Eurozone; we would do even better to leave the European Union altogether.






Gossip/hearsay has been going around that I am "bad on television". Well, I am happy for people to make up their minds on the basis of these and other videos now being posted to the website. Both these videos - and of course the Al Jazeerah interview already posted, and available via the YouTube link on the home page - were unscripted and unrehearsed. I was - in effect - speaking "off the cuff".

I have had hundreds of radio and television interviews, and am an extremely effective TV and radio interviewee. I would like my supporters to say that Tim Congdon is "good on television", but that is up to them. The media do not ask me to speak because I am the Leader of UKIP, but because I am a recognised and highly articulate expert in several important areas of public policy.

As far as possible, I avoid rehearsals, the planting of questions and "improve yourself on the media" courses. I have better things to do with my time. (I could few things drearier than day-long training and rehearsal sessions for the TV and radio. To repeat: I have better things to do with my time.)

I will conclude with one perhaps rather sharp comment: The future of a political party should not depend on the performance of one man on one television programme. Is that direct? Maybe. It is also correct, obviously correct.

I will probably be on the Today programme on Saturday morning, but will let you know for certain when the BBC confirms. The interview has nothing to do with my UKIP leadership campaign, but may be of interest to party members.

With best wishes,

Tim Congdon