Well, it turns out that the simple answer to that question is, moderate Tories.
But why?
Well, extreme far right Tories said they had to be. After all, evil Nigel was coming to steal their seats!
Except, was he really?
The politics of fear is an approach long perfected in the USA where either Nazis (or the redcoats if we go back even further), the Communists (Reds under the bed!) and more recently terrorists have been set up as the enemy to be rolled out every time what passes for moderates in the US start to gain traction politically.
What does this have to do with right wing Tories?
It's the same thing. They used UKIP and then BXP Ltd. to scare moderates into backing them, but was there ever really a threat to moderate Tory seats?
The UK uses a first past the post electoral system which has ensured that only two parties ever really stand a chance of winning major elections. So even at their most popular, the BXP/UKIP have never really stood a chance.
Look at Nigel Farage's woeful election history, he was once beaten by a guy dressed in a dolphin suit!
If that doesn't tell you something about his "party's" chances of winning seats in parliament, I don't know what does.
But, I hear you say, UKIP have had two MPs!
Both were loaned by the Tories, neither won their seats while part of UKIP and both very quickly scurried back to their actual home once their job was done.
But what about EU elections (you know, the "undemocratic" ones)?
They have always had a MUCH lower turnout than general elections and don't use the FPTP electoral system so it's easier to get elected ("undemocratically") to office by smaller parties.
So, the "threat" of the extremists was never anything more than a right wing ploy to keep moderate Tories in line.
And now our political system is under attack from the very people sworn to uphold it.
Scary times.
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