Features

The first time Gerard Batten cast a vote was in 1975. The young Mr Batten was 21, and he voted 'no' to Britain continuing its membership of the European Economic Community. In the event, 67% of the country disagreed with him, but for Gerard Batten it was just the beginning of a life-long campaign against Brussels.

Fast forward to 1992 and after reading through the Maastricht Treaty, Mr Batten declares it to be 'like a surrender document for a country that had just been defeated in a war.' And he was not the only one who felt that way. Out of a group called the Anti-Federalist League, half a dozen members – including Mr Batten – founded a new political party calling for Britain's complete withdrawal from the European Union. The UK Independence Party was born.

The MEP

2004 was something of a breakthrough year for UKIP. Gerard Batten was just one of a dozen UKIP candidates elected to the European Parliament, taking a 16% share of the vote across the country as a whole.

"As an MEP my job is a bit different to most MEPs because we don't believe in it. We're not there to make it work," says Mr Batten at his campaign office near London Bridge.

"I spend a large proportion of my time over here, rather than on the gravy train over there. I'm trying to do something to help our cause, which is British withdrawal. On the other hand, there is the constituency work and I try to deal with that as much as I can without calling on the EU to have increased powers."

"Sometimes people introduce us as the anti-Europe party. And we're not. We love Europe. How can you hate a whole continent? That's just stupid. What we are against is the European Union, which is a political construction."

London Assembly

In that same year, 2004, two UKIP candidates, Damian Hockney and Peter Hulme Cross, won two seats on the London Assembly. However, the party's fortunes in London would soon take a sharp dip.

The catalyst for the strife was Robert Kilroy-Silk's unsuccessful bid to become UKIP's leader. He resigned from the party and formed his own, called Veritas, taking the two London Assembly members with him. When Veritas imploded, Damian Hockney and Peter Hulme Cross formed another party called One London.

Damian Hockney will now be One London's mayoral candidate at the forthcoming election.

"They let us down and they betrayed not just us but all the people who worked to get them there and who voted for them," says Mr Batten.

"We want to win those two seats back, plus some more."

"I get on perfectly well with Damian on a personal level; he is a very likeable chap but he should just stand aside and let us get on with it."

"Nobody who voted UKIP in 2004 is going to vote One London now, mainly because they won't know what the hell it is anyway."

UKIP in the capital

On face value, it may appear incongruous that UKIP stand in the London elections at all. Only a national government could instigate a British withdrawal from the European Union, which is UKIP's main political objective. What would they stand for in London?

UKIP candidate Gerard Batten

"We have been called a one policy party but that has never been true," insists Mr Batten.

"How are we relevant to London? Well, we've got policies for London. I, as Mayor, will not be concentrating on the European issue but on London-wide issues."

Met reform

"Crime is the single most important issue because if you don't feel safe walking the streets then everything else pales into insignificance. Crime is definitely out of control in London," says Mr Batten.

Gerard Batten would seek to reform the Metropolitan Police, by hiving off specialist units such as the royal and diplomatic protection squads, and concentrating the powers of the force on combating street crime.

"Get the Police back on the streets – I don't care if they drive cars, fly helicopters, or go on pogo sticks, but get them back on the streets fighting crime."

Perhaps his most eye-catching idea is having an elected Police Commissioner for the Met. Gerard Batten is heavily critical of the current incumbent, Sir Iain Blair, who, in his opinion, has politicised the position and no longer reflects what Londoners want from their police force.

Motorist-friendly

"The problem you've got in London is that there are too many people living in a finite space and we're bringing in more and more people into that space," says Mr Batten.

"I think the way to get traffic moving is to get rid of the Congestion Charge, cut down parking and traffic restrictions and look at traffic light flows and just try to get it moving again but the average speed is never going to be that high."

While it is politically fashionable to focus on public transport, Gerard Batten makes no apologies for being on the side of the motorist.

"In terms of transport, I'll be taking a motorist-friendly view of this. A lot of the policies from Ken just stem from the fact that he hates the car and hates motorists."

'We could all be doomed…'

UKIP also take a rather brave stance on green issues, which Mr Batten breaks down into two separate subjects, climate change and the environment.

On climate change, Mr Batten said, "It is the accepted wisdom that this is all man-made, and Al Gore's film and all the rest of it, but that isn't true. There are a lot of scientists who don't sign up to that."

"We could all be doomed, who knows? We could freeze to death in another ice-age or it could get very hot. I don't necessarily think that it has got anything to do with human activity. We would say that it is a small percentage that has added to the total."

"Environment is different. That is looking after the planet and looking after your country and keeping it in the best state. And we want environmental policies."

Business-interests

As well as being against the European Parliament, UKIP is also known for being pro-business and anti-regulation. A Mayor Batten would be no different.

But businesses will get much more than a friendly mayor under UKIP – they would also get to vote in future local elections. Mr Batten rationalises that companies pay business rates and therefore they should also get a say in electing the council. Currently business has 'taxation without representation' he says.

"I would be working very closely with people like the Small Business Federation to find out what kind of policies they want and how I can help them."

All the right friends

The growth of UKIP in recent years has made them a target and brought its own problems - mostly from their 'friends' on the right. The Tories have sought to paint them as a party on the far-right and tarred them with the same brush as the British National Party.

However, Gerard Batten takes it all in his stride.

"I don't think about the Tories at all. Who are they, what do they stand for? They've never conserved anything in their existence that I am aware of!"

“They don't like us because they think we take votes away from them but that's not true," he insists. "It's a bit of a myth that we take Tory votes; we actually take everyone's votes."

Mr Batten is equally dismissive about any accusations about UKIP being a far-right party. While admitting that they are in favour of a controlled immigration policy, he also has some colourful – and unpublishable - words to say about the BNP.

"Elections are really carried in the media," bemoans Gerard Batten. "And this is the problem we have, getting into the media."

And when the press do come knocking on his door, the results are not always as desired. After giving a ninety minute interview to the Evening Standard and being promised a full page spread with a photo, Mr Batten was shocked to find that the paper eventually ran 'an inch and a half saying that I had attacked the gays because I wouldn't give them any money for the gay pride march.'

"I rang the Pink News and explained what happened. I wasn't having a go at the gay community – I wasn't going to give money to anybody – I'm only going to spend money on essentials and they were quite happy about that."

The UKIP slogan

Gerard Batten says he loves the capital because 'anything that you want to do in your life you can find it in London.'

"Justice and Common Sense: That's my slogan because we shouldn't have policies imposed on people that are not just and we should have policies that are common sense."