Stroud Liberal Democrats

UKIP candidate says extending the vote was a mistake

Extending the vote to women and middle class voters was a mistake, a UKIP candidate has claimed.

Magnus Neilsen, UKIP's West Hampsted candidate told an election hustings that the franchise should be reduced.

He said: "I sometimes think the people who fought for the vote in 1832 and 1888 and so forth, trying to extend the franchise were probably doing the wrong thing,"

"I think perhaps we should start reducing the franchise."

He also suggested that removing the vote from some groups would increase its value and added:

"Generally speaking when you start taking things away, or threatening to take things away, people start clamouring and say they really want it."

Neilsen's latest outburst follows him posting a series of Islamophobic comments on Facebook.

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