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So those people want genuine input / say in the political party, and what the party stands for is less important?
JWestland-
The Tory party has always consisted of a spectrum of views, from borderline NF/BNP on the extreme Right through to (the descendents of) Thatchers 'Wets', and on to the patrician One Nation Tories.
As the members of local Conservative constituency parties have aged, their political views have drifted to the Right, whilst the Parliamentary party has, on their view, forsaken them with socially progressive policies like gay marriage.
In days gone by the number of Tories who would cross the line into outright support for the NF/BNP was limited, it was electoral suicide.
Now with the rise of social media, they can be reassured that their views have some support, but only in their own echo chamber, possibly amplified by targeted social media advertising from groups will not reveal their sources of funding.Rather like a snake sloughing off old skin,
Farage, and the other founders of the original ukip could see that UK fascists could get 12-14% of the vote in certain constituencies. Use that as a base, and (correctly) assume the major parties will be at best lukewarm about Euro Elections, and you can add on all sorts of malcontents to 'win' the 2014 Euro Elections.Farage, or more likely his financial backer, could see where ukip support was coming from, and could see the problem with being the cheerleaders for a newly invigorated extreme right wing.
So, ditch the continuity ukip, and start a new party, seemingly closer to the centre of the Overton window, offering a safe home to the socially conservative who do not want to be associated with fascists.
The Derbyshire councillors can legitimately claim that they have been cast adrift by the (more socially liberal) Parliamentary Tory party. Continuity ukip is beyond the pale; thus they see themselves as represented by the new Brexit party, even though it has no policies beyond (a bellowed) 'Brexit'.
mespilus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Independence_Party_representation_and_election_results#English_councils
2013, 14 & 15 saw ukip winning some council seats at each election, and even won control of Thanet Council.
There were a significant number of local councillors who saw a zero-distance journey
from their position as anti-Union Thatcherites to kipperism,
especially as CallMeDave forced Gay marriage through Parliament.
This was what scared Cameron into believing he needed to 'shoot ukip's fox' and grant the referendum.
The anger at the metropolitan elite is not solely from economically impoverished Northern towns who have lost their sole or major industries and employers, against the Corbyn Labour party, but also from disaffected Tories who are irrelevant to the Parliamentary Conservative party.
In days gone by the local Conservative Club was the balance to the Working Mens' Clubs,
a place for small employers to drink in comparative safety at better prices than pubs, and raise money for elections through Dinner Dances, Bring'n'Buy sales and Cake sales.
These days Tory Central Office can raise £250k from an Oiligarch's wife for playing tennis with dePfeffel, and such like. TCO can also use social media to contact potential voters directly,
so who needs the local Councillors to plod round the streets delivering leaflets no-one reads?