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I remember back in 2010 when little, puppyish Nick Clegg turned up in the televised leader debates, representing perennial losers, the Lib Dems, he went down very well. Particularly with certain forumites who will remain nameless.

All this talk of the "new politics and the "political establishment" and obviously, the fact that the Lib Dems had never been in power helped a lot in an atmosphere when you wouldn't want a group of politicians to move in next door. Eh? Going for the yoof vote i.e. down with student fees etc. Call me Nick did very well in the election and then bingo, got into a coalition.

That's when it went arsehole up and has continued the same ever since as Nasty Nick stabbed all his activists in the back and supported the most right wing government in living memory.

Now Nigel "Mine's a pint" Farage is the new boy in town talking about the "new politics" and "taking on the political establishment". Haven't I heard this somewhere before? Mind, it is hard to imagine anyone who is not more of a member of the political establishment - educated at public school, investment banker, snout in the trough in EU expenses.

Nige has two basic policies a. get out of the EU because it is run by nasty foreigners. b. stop those nasty foreigners coming over here and destroying our pub, dancing round maypoles, heterosexual, after you no after you, whippet racing, pigeon racing, Spitfire celebrating culture.

To Nige immigrants are generally bad unless a. you want to marry one like he did or b. your key ethnic UKIP supporters need illegal immigrants to work for nowt in a family Bangladeshi restaurant somewhere or other.

And better still, Nige and UKIP must be the answer because they haven't got a single MP, never mind not being in power before. Is it possible for a political party in the UK to have a better CV than that? Untested, untried and unknown in any meaningful way?

So other than the two main policies, what are UKIP's policies? Well generally they are whatever you want them to be depending whether you live in a Labour or Tory seat. Nasty Nige said he never read the UKIP 2010 election manifesto before it was published, wasn't familiar with its contents and the bits that he had read, he thought were rubbish.

And this is the guy who's party has apparently been leading the polls in the European elections.

Democracy - what a fine invention it is. Here we go again - Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage. Maybe next time we can vote for some airhead off the X factor.

In your own opinion David, why do you think UKIP have become so popular so quickly?

*Sorry if you have already said in your post but I could not be bothered to read it all.

Well let's be honest most politicians are the same. They tell you what you want to hear (lie) to get your vote and if they get into power they do exactly what THEY want.

Hypocrisy, double standards, dishonesty, lying and not answering the question are the mainstays of being a politician but someone's got to do it.

No. I dont think so anyway.

Clegg, to be fair, was very charismatic during his speeches and shined against Brown and Cameron.

Farage has always seemed a bit of an upper class twit. However UKIP's latest turn seems very desperate and I doubt it will get him anyway. Only reason why people are talking about him because he is different. He actually has a personality and knows that overall he wont matter. He is the ironic "lets send a bunch of MPs who want to leave the EU to the EU" vote

"Is Nigel Farage the new Nick Clegg?"

No, Nigel Farage is popular.

"In your own opinion David, why do you think UKIP have become so popular so quickly?"

1. They aren't any of the others, Labour, Lib Dems and Tories and haven't been in power. That is the main factor.

2. Farage doesn't sound like a robot unlike the vast majority of UK politicians who churn out their party lines "hard-working families", "cost of living crisis" etc. etc. bloody etc.

3. The other main factor is his party buys in to the feeling that many British people as well as mainland Europeans have which is the reason their life is a pile of shit e.g. can't get a decent job, can't get an appt. with their GP in less than a month, can't afford to buy a house even if I had a permanent job is down to the EU and immigration.

This feeling in 3. is wrong because what there is is not a crisis of immigration (that isn't t say we don't need immigration controls) but more an unprecedented onslaught from global capitalism to maximise profits by forcing down wages whilst increasing profits.

Nick Clegg was very popular in 2010 after the TV debates. Hence the phrase is Nigel Farage the NEW Nick Clegg.

As one daily paper said this week....Nigel Farage is brave enough to say what people think. My Champagne Socialist colleagues are genuinely worried Labour will lose more votes to UKIP than the Tories. UKIP is appealing to the man in the street, who has no representation among the big 3. People are liking their policies and will vote for UKIP on Thursday.

Not sure what the fuss is about,they won't even win a single seat at the election. The only people who vote for them are brain dead idiots and racists. Funny how the media never ask them about anything other than immigration. I think a few working class people may be in for a shock when they discover the other policies.

Nigel Farage is popular with grumpy, slightly bigoted over 55s who are less educated and less well off than your typical Tory voter. He's gained popularity by spreading and feeding off peoples' fears.

Nick Clegg was popular with younger voters and adults who'd gone into further education. He never really gained much real popularity outside people admiring him for his debates with Brown and Cameron.

Farage wants to isolate Britain, Clegg wants closer ties to Europe.

There is no real similarities outside being leaders of parties who aren't the main two who've had a duopoly on the British politics since WW2.