The low salience of European integration for British voters means that UKIP will have to expand their platform to gain more support.

The rise of UKIP has heightened existing tensions within the Conservative party over the EU, which the Prime Minister’s promise of a future referendum has dampened without finally resolving. However Ben Clements, Philip Lynch and Richard Whitaker argue that the available evidence shows that this is an issue of little importance to the majority of the electorate. While UKIP have been moderately successful in drawing out connections between the EU and issues of greater concern to voters, the persistently low salience of the European question means that they will have to move beyond this core concern if they are to win more votes.