ABSTRACT
Taking a closer look at constituencies won by the Conservatives and where UKIP came second at the 2015 general election, this chapter offers an empirical analysis of the actual extent of UKIP’s influence on the Eurosceptic radicalization of the Conservative party at the local level between the May 2015 and June 2017 general elections. Relying on the analysis of three empirical surveys, this chapter exposes the following paradox: whereas the radicalization of Conservative MPs was actually limited in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, the Conservative leadership continued to radicalize after the referendum by embarking on the road to a hard Brexit, even though UKIP had ceased to be an actual threat at the local level.
