Paul Nuttall claims Ukip could see SNP-style boost if UK stays in EU

Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall has claimed the party stands to benefit from the “so-called SNP effect” should the UK opt to remain in the European Union.

Despite campaigning for an exit from the EU, the UKIP MEP said the party could see a poll bounce irrespective of the outcome in the upcoming referendum.

Nuttall likened the potential outcome to that of the SNP, which claimed 56 of 59 seats in the general election, eight months on from defeat in the independence referendum.

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UKIP currently has one MP, Douglas Carswell, at Westminster, though only managed 1.6 per cent of the votes cast north of the border last May. 

“One of two things is going to happen in this referendum,” he told The Parliament magazine, Holyrood’s sister title. “Either we are going to win and then Ukip should get the plaudits. And if we get the plaudits, then we will go up in the polls.

“If we lose it, heaven forbid if we lose it and it is tight, then we could end up in a situation where you’ve got a large percentage of the people in Britain who are very angry indeed and then you could see Ukip benefiting from the so-called SNP effect.

“As a result of their anger, they got behind the SNP at the last British general election and they won every single Scottish seat bar three. Anger is a very powerful emotion indeed. So whatever happens, Ukip isn’t going to go away.”

Ukip returned more MEPs than any other political party in Britain at the 2014 European elections. The party won 27 per cent of the votes in England with its 10.4 per cent share north of the border enough to send David Coburn to the European Parliament.

David Cameron will this month seek agreement from the other 27 EU member states on a draft deal to reform the UK’s relationship with Brussels. It could see a referendum take place as early as June, despite protests from the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to hold off “at least until later in the year”.