Ukip held a carnival in my hometown, and I found myself caught up in it. They’d enticed us to the Whitgift Centre with talk of a steel band, their large number of local BME candidates and a chance to see Nigel Farage.
After more accusations of racism, picking Croydon did make sense for the party. It is London’s most populous borough and the largest town in Europe. It can confidently describe itself as one of the ‘melting pots’ politicians love: 2011 Census data shows White British people make up less than 50 per cent of the population, with 18 different ethnic groups living in the borough.
Ukip’s local candidates include Nigerian immigrant Ancellam Nnoram (who hilariously changed his name by deed poll to ‘Ace’ just before the elections) and ex-boxing champion Winston McKenzie, who was born in Jamaica.
It wasn’t clear, though, how the steel band would help Nigel Farage recover from his comments about Romanians, unless this West Indian music has a wider following in Romania than we’ve realised.
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