People everywhere are increasingly fed up with their political leaders. In autocracies the opposition are stifled and suppressed, but the steam is building up. In democratic countries frustration with the established parties, whether in or out of power, finds an outlet in new parties of the right or left that "cock a snook" at professional politicians and demand change.
In Britain these frustrations have led to the growth of the Scottish Nationalists (SNP) and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). The SNP lost the referendum on independence for Scotland, but threaten the opposition Labour Party's near monopoly of Scottish seats in Parliament at Westminster. They hope to have a pivotal role after the next general election in the United Kingdom due in May 2015.
UKIP now has two representatives at Westminster. It won its second seat in southern England at a by-election on Nov. 20. The by-election followed the defection to UKIP of a Conservative party (traditionally known as Tories) member of Parliament (MP) (with the appropriate name of Mark Reckless). In the by-election he defeated the official Tory candidate and pushed the Labour candidate into third place.