Guide to the Constitution

UKIP Constitution

UKIP Rule Book (Download)

The Returning Officer Jonathan Arnott declared the following results of the ballot on the new Constitution on 1 March 2012:

The number of ballots received for the UKIP Consitution ballot was 7477. A total of 139 ballots were rejected (1 PEP ballot, 1 NEC ballot, 21 arrived too late, 3 lack of security mark, 113 spoilt) leaving a total of 7338 valid votes.

The total number of ballot papers sent out was 17101.  The turnout percentage (inc. spoilt ballots) was 43.7%.

Those voting YES: 6745 (91.9%).
Those voting NO: 593 (8.1%).

The new Constitution has therefore received the required two-thirds majority, and is in force.

Jonathan Arnott (UKIP General Secretary)

The new UKIP Constitution is the first complete re-write of the legal basis of the Party for several years. It is a complete overhaul, which the NEC has spent more than a year considering, yet much of it will be familiar.

The new Constitution builds on the previous one, strengthening some areas where weaknesses had been exposed, such as the status of membership; clarifying important relationships, such as the respective powers of the Leader and the NEC; and ensuring that the whole document is legally suitable for a modern political party which is also a limited company.

There are some key themes.

First, that the Constitution should be unambiguous and legally appropriate. That's why we've had it examined by an independent legal firm with Constitutional experience, including Counsel's opinion, which gave it a clean bill of health, with one small amendment (to New Clause 4.2.2).

Second, that this Constitution clearly establishes the NEC as the primary authority of the Party, and clarifies its relationship with the Leader.

In the past the NEC was described (Old Clause 7.1) as "the Party's highest management committee… responsible for the Party's funds, structure and publicity (!)… which MAY advise the Party Leader on political matters and shall approve the Party's final manifesto".

In the new document, the NEC is (New Clause 6.1) "the principal management and administrative authority of the Party" with a defined list of responsibilities and powers, including (New Clause 6.2) "advising the Party Leader on political matters" and "approving the Party's policies and manifestos."

This is a very important clarification. In our view – a view supported by the current Leader – a strong NEC enables a strong Leader to flourish. The NEC provides a powerful, well organised party for the Leader to lead; and works with him (or her) to deliver the best policies and political direction, which everyone can get behind.

Third, that the Constitution should set up the detailed legal framework for party membership, discipline and objectives; while the NEC should be responsible for operational management and direction.

So, the rather disparate Party Rulebook has now been pulled together into a cohesive, comprehensive document, which works alongside this Constitution.

Discipline rests with the NEC – previously it was a responsibility ambiguously shared between the NEC and the Business Meeting (Old Clause 14). Now it is firmly the responsibility of NEC, and has been properly clarified to ensure that its procedures conform to legal good practice and natural justice – including enabling the appointment of independent professional chairmen for Disciplinary and Appeal hearings (New Clause 11.7).

Other things to note:

•  Our objectives are more clearly and comprehensively defined (New Clauses 2.3–2.5).
•  Our activities are more comprehensively scoped (New Clauses 3.1–3.5).
•  There are new measures to ensure that we cannot be infiltrated by former members of organisations which might bring us into disrepute (New Clauses 3.7.1–3.7.3 and 4.2.1–4.3).
•  Some anomalies and mistakes have been eliminated, eg we only elect four (not five) new full-term NEC members each year (Old Clause 7.24, New Clause 6.25): and there is now a time limit of 3 months within which an EGM must be held if properly called (New Clause 5.10); and we can appoint an Interim Leader in the event of a sudden need for one (New Clause 7.11).
•  The NEC will now automatically have a standing Policy Committee to participate fully in the development of Party policy (Old Clause 7.3, New Clause 10.1)
•  The role of Deputy Leader is defined for the first time (New Clause 7.10).

Please do read the old and new Constitutions for yourself – there may be other differences that occur to you, and that you consider as important as those I've listed above – and then send us your vote before the end of February.

Steve Crowther
01 February 2012

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