ABSTRACT

This chapter assesses the degree of electoral choice that the British political mainstream offered voters on the immigration 'issue' as well as the extent to which any changes to parties' manifesto positions were a response to the electoral challenges posed by the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). In order to assess the degree of electoral choice that the mainstream parties have offered, policy is divided into and examined in four sub-fields of policy: labour migration; family reunification; asylum/refugees; and parties' preferred mode of integration. In recent years, the populist radical right (PRR) party, UKIP, which advocates Britain leaving the European Union (EU) as well as substantially tighter controls on immigration, has enjoyed an unexpected rise in popularity. The Liberal Democrats proposed to introduce greater enforcement of the immigration system, thus clamping down on employers of illegal labour.