Firstly, their possibly offensive poster campaign, telling us to "sod" the Big Three on polling day (not something all of us will be able to do, as they're posting candidates to roughly 4/5 of the constituencies in the country). It's certainly a volatile statement, but it will with all likelihood get the party some extra attention, which can only be a good thing for them (considering that they came second in last year's EU elections). However, will people see this as more of the adversarial Westminster politics that they have become to despise? UKIP's strength should be in their immigration policies, not in their mudslinging.
UKIP's slogan generator seems to be on a roll, as proven at their manifesto launch on the fourteenth. They decided to distribute t-shirts blazoned with the phrase "Withdraw, before it's too late!", which, frankly, is the silliest thing to come throughout the whole campaign from any party. Again, it's a phrase which has the power to provoke, but the joke will be geared towards those immature enough to make an example of it. Will it, perhaps, have the effect of alienating some of their (conservative) voters? If they can't be serious during their campaign, could they be serious in office? Again, it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out, but if the polls are anything to go by (looking at the independents line, which has been wavering between 9 and 10 points since the election was called), then I doubt we'll see UKIP get any seats (although there is one seat I'd love to see taken by UKIP...)
Oh yes. My personal favourite real-life troll has decided to do something amazing, something unconventional, something... troll-like. Nigel Farage MEP is standing for Buckingham, the incumbent constituency of the current Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. You don't do this. You don't stand against the current speaker. Although there's nothing strictly to stop him (like many things in parliament, the rule isn't in concrete but merely followed by convention), it can be seen as rude through the massive disregard for parliamentary convention, so will that fact work against him? Or will he galvanise the constituents into a protest vote, in a constituency where there is now little democratic choice (the Conservatives are the only party of the main three to stand there, accompanied by candidates from the BNP, the Christian Party, and the Monster Raving Loony Party [what a protest vote that would be!]). The seat is considered safe having been held by the Conservative Party since 1970, and Bercow has a large majority (he had 57% of the vote in the 2005 general election, his nearest competitor having 20%). From the frustrated responses of the Buckingham constituents on news reports and the frantic campaigning of Bercow against Farage, the result could be interesting. I personally welcome either result, as Farage in parliament would hopefully result in many more clips of "parliamentary banter" equal to his tirade against the President of the EU.
In any case, UKIP's performance will be interesting come May 6th. Especially if they give a performance equal to this (0:14-0:58, you won't be disappointed).
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