The Scoop

UKIP set for return to the London Assembly

Adam Bienkov | Monday 16 April, 2012 12:14

A rise in support for the United Kingdom Independence Party could see them re-taking seats on the London Assembly, a new poll out today suggests.

The poll by YouGov for the Evening Standard puts the party on 5% which would see them gain one seat on the Assembly.

UKIP held two seats on the Assembly between 2004-2008.

The results also suggest that The Green Party and the BNP will lose all of their seats on the Assembly, polling at just 3% and 1% respectively.

This would represent a big collapse in Green Party support after taking 8% in 2008.

The BNP’s support also appears to have all but disappeared from their high point of 5% in 2008.

The Lib Dem Assembly candidates meanwhile are polling ahead of their Mayoral candidate on 9%, to Brian Paddick’s 7%.

This would be a relatively good result for the Lib Dems, representing just a 2% drop from their 2008 result.

Today’s poll also puts UKIP’s mayoral candidate Lawrence Webb in fourth place to be London Mayor, at 3%.

The Green Party’s candidate Jenny Jones is now down to joint fifth place with independent candidate Siobhan Benita. Both are polling just 2%.

Benita’s campaign today claimed that opinion polls are “not a fair measure of her support.” Another poll last week put her on <0.5%.

However the biggest turnaround in today’s poll comes for Labour who are set to take 46% of the votes to the Conservative’s 35% on the London Assembly top up list.

In 2008 Labour received just 28% of the vote to the Conservative’s 35%.

However, despite this surge, Labour’s Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone is still trailing Boris Johnson, albeit by a smaller margin than last month.

If today’s poll is replicated at the ballot box next month, then Labour are set to lose the Mayoralty, despite making significant gains on the Assembly.

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