BE careful what you wish for.

Disillusioned by their defeat in the 1979 General Election, some Labour supporters defected in 1981 to the newly formed SDP led by the ‘Gang of Four’ Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams.

Their aim was to change the face of British politics and they succeeded, but not in the way they had planned or imagined.

Instead of getting the Tory party out of power they ensured it stayed in power for another 16 years.

Not only that, they forced the Labour Party to re-invent itself as ‘New Labour’.

What did they get out of that, Tony Blair!

So beware you people who think voting UKIP will change the face of British politics. It may well succeed in doing just that, but not in the way you plan or imagine.

Alan Lowe Rudheath