UKIP’S former Parliamentary candidate for Worcester has spoken of his ‘mild relief’ that Douglas Carswell has quit the party and claimed he was ‘pure poison.’
James Goad, who stood for the party in 2015’s general election, made the comments after Mr Carswell, the MP for Clacton, announced on Sunday (March 26) he was quitting UKIP – leaving the party with no MPs.
In a statement, Mr Carswell said his rationale behind his decision was made because UKIP achieved its main aim of getting the UK out of the European Union.
He has also said he won’t be triggering a by-election, as he did when he left the Conservatives to join UKIP, because he will sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons.
The party’s former and only MP had a fraught relationship with former leader, Nigel Farage, and were accused by many in the party, including Mr Goad, of undermining his leadership.
“It can be argued that the public car-crash that the party has become since Farage’s resignation last year is partly attributable to him,” Mr Goad said.
“He undermined Farage and openly defied him at times.
“His time in UKIP, from his defection from the Tories in 2014 up until the present, was awkward. He didn’t gel with the party faithful.
“As an outsider, I don’t know exactly what happened. I can make a few guesses; as a true classical liberal, he always subscribed to complete freedom of movement. UKIP’s rhetoric had been heavily against such policies for 10 years prior to Carswell’s joining.
This made him incompatible with what had become one of the party’s core principles.
He expressed open distaste for the way the party talked about immigration.
“He didn’t seem to realise that UKIP’s support arises from us being anti-establishment and very different from the others. By seeking to tone down the immigration message he was seeking respectability and approval from the political establishment. Well, we never wanted to be the establishment.
“Whatever his motivations, the party can be left more free to re-structure itself without its most divisive figure.”
