UKIP: The First 100 Days

UKIP: The First 100 Days is a 2015 mockumentary which was broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2015, a few months before the May 2015 general election. It tells the fictional story of how the country would be run if the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a Eurosceptic party, were to win the election and leader Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister. The programme is filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary that follows UKIP's fictional first female Asian MP as she struggles with the party's stance on immigration amid mounting public discontent with its hardline policies. The role of Deepa Kaur, who is elected to serve as MP for the Romford constituency, is played by Priyanga Burford. Details of the programme with the working title 100 Days of UKIP were announced in October 2014. Within a day of the programme airing, over 1,000 complaints were lodged with Ofcom and Channel 4, reaching to over 5,000 complaints in a week to Ofcom and a further thousand to Channel 4, prompting the broadcasting regulator to open an investigation. In February 2015, The Guardian reported that a “significant number” of the complaints had been sent as part of a campaign orchestrated by the far-right group Britain First, in which supporters were asked to sign a templated email. Most of the complaints were allegations of electoral bias which Channel 4 deny. Critical reception of the mockumentary was negative, with reviewers finding the plot unrealistic.