Maajid Nawaz: This Is Ukip's True Victory

6 May 2017, 14:00 | Updated: 6 May 2017, 15:36

Maajid Nawaz says Ukip's true victory doesn't lie with Brexit, but in doing something the Tories have never been able to.

Ukip gained one ward but failed to hold onto any existing seats in the local elections on Thursday.

But on his LBC show, Maajid Nawaz asked whether Ukip really lost - because he doesn't think so. 

He said: "Their true victory is actually beyond the fact that the Tories have shifted to the right, the fact that the referendum happened, the fact that they won the referendum, no, no, no.  

"Their true victory is in something else. Which is why the analogy with kamikaze fighter pilots only takes us so far.Their true victory can be seen through the analogy with Jesus Christ, because he was crucified for our sins, and that's what Ukip have done, only to be resurrected on Good Friday - in a different form.  

"Ukip's true victory is in achieving something the Tories have never been able to achieve. And that is converting dyed-in-the-wool, hard core, tribal, historic, working class Labour voters to vote Tory.  

"Therein lies Ukip's true victory. The unattainable was attained for the Conservative Party, through the crucifixion of Ukip, dying for our sins as a martyr.  Being resurrected in the form of Labour Party members switching to Conservative, for the first time in their lives.  

"The thin edge of that wedge was those working class voters voting for Brexit, influenced by Ukip, and now they find it palatable for the first time in their lives to vote Tory.  

"That's the true victory that Ukip achieved for the Conservatives and that's truly how the entire debate in this country has shifted so far to the right, that people who are even more moderately centre left are seen as enemies of the people, unpatriotic.  

"That really, I'd say to you dear listeners, is why Ukip haven't lost in this crushing electoral battle that we just witnessed with these local elections, because they actually won the war.  

"And now we have Big Brother in the form of the Conservative Party able to flex its muscles and achieve everything Ukip wanted to achieve."