Robert Ford - Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain

UKIP a quixotic project to transform UK politics or the catalyst for partisan realignment? Read Ford and Goodwins comprehensive and expert analysis before trying to resolve the question.

Professor Michael Thrasher
The Elections Centre, Plymouth University, UK

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is the most significant new party in British politics for a generation. In recent years UKIP and their charismatic leader Nigel Farage have captivated British politics, media and voters. Yet both the party and the roots of its support remain poorly understood. Where has this political revolt come from? Who is supporting them, and why? How are UKIP attempting to win over voters? And how far can their insurgency against the main parties go? Drawing on a wealth of new data from surveys of UKIP voters to extensive interviews with party insiders in this book prominent political scientists Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin put UKIPs revolt under the microscope and show how many conventional wisdoms about the party and the radical right are wrong. Along the way they provide unprecedented insight into this new revolt, and deliver some crucial messages for those with an interest in the state of British politics, the radical right in Europe and political behaviour more generally.

Robert Ford is Lecturer in Politics in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK, and tweets @robfordmancs.

Matthew Goodwin is Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is also Associate Fellow at Chatham House and tweets @GoodwinMJ.

Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy

Series Editors:
Roger Eatwell, University of Bath, and Matthew Goodwin, University of Nottingham.

Founding Series Editors:
Roger Eatwell, University of Bath, and Cas Mudde, University of Antwerp-UFSIA.

This new series encompasses academic studies within the broad fields of extremism and democracy. These topics have traditionally been considered largely in isolation by academics. A key focus of the series, therefore, is the (inter-)relation between extremism and democracy. Works will seek to answer questions such as to what extent extremist groups pose a major threat to democratic parties, or how democracy can respond to extremism without undermining its own democratic credentials.

The books encompass two strands:

Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy includes books with an introductory and broad focus which are aimed at students and teachers. These books will be available in hardback and paperback. Titles include:

Understanding Terrorism in America
From the Klan to al Qaeda
Christopher Hewitt

Fascism and the Extreme Right
Roger Eatwell

Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by Cas Mudde

Political Parties and Terrorist Groups (2nd Edition)
Leonard Weinberg, Ami Pedahzur and Arie Perliger

The New Extremism in 21st Century Britain
Edited by Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin

New British Fascism
Rise of the British National Party
Matthew Goodwin

The End of Terrorism?
Leonard Weinberg

Mapping the Extreme Right in Contemporary Europe
From local to transnational
Edited by Andrea Mammone, Emmanuel Godin and Brian Jenkins

Varieties of Right-Wing Extremism in Europe
Edited by Andrea Mammone, Emmanuel Godin and Brian Jenkins

Right-Wing Radicalism Today
Perspectives from Europe and the US
Edited by Sabine von Mering and Timothy Wyman McCarty

Revolt on the Right
Explaining support for the radical right in Britain
Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin

Routledge Research in Extremism and Democracy offers a forum for innovative new research intended for a more specialist readership. These books will be in hardback only. Titles include:

Uncivil Society?
Contentious politics in post-communist Europe
Edited by Petr Kopecky and Cas Mudde

Political Parties and Terrorist Groups
Leonard Weinberg and Ami Pedahzur

Western Democracies and the New Extreme Right Challenge
Edited by Roger Eatwell and Cas Mudde

Confronting Right Wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA
George Michael

Anti-Political Establishment Parties
A comparative analysis
Amir Abedi

American Extremism
History, politics and the militia
D. J. Mulloy

The Scope of Tolerance
Studies on the costs of free expression and freedom of the press
Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Extreme Right Activists in Europe
Through the magnifying glass
Bert Klandermans and Nonna Mayer

Ecological Politics and Democratic Theory
Mathew Humphrey

Reinventing the Italian Right
Territorial politics, populism and post-fascism
Carlo Ruzza and Stefano Fella

Political Extremes
An investigation into the history of terms and concepts from antiquity to the present
Uwe Backes

The Populist Radical Right in Poland
The patriots
Rafal Pankowski

Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola
Paul Furlong

Radical Left Parties in Europe
Luke March

Counterterrorism in Turkey
Policy choices and policy effects toward the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
Mustafa Coar nal

Class Politics and the Radical Right
Edited by Jens Rydgren

Rethinking the French New Right
Alternatives to modernity
Tamir Bar-On

Ending Terrorism in Italy
Anna Bull and Philip Cooke

Politics of Eugenics
Productionism, population, and national welfare
Alberto Spektorowski and Liza Saban

Democratic Extremism in Theory and Practice
Power to the people
Paul Lucardie

REVOLT ON THE RIGHT

Explaining support for the radical right in Britain

Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin

First published 2014
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin

The right of Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Ford, Robert Anthony
Revolt on the right: explaining support for the radical right in Britain /
Robert Ford and Matthew J. Goodwin.
pagescm. (Extremism and democracy)