Ukip deserves to 'be taken seriously' after by-elections surge, says Vince Cable More than a third of the 1,512 respondents believed Britain was "better off out"; a significant increase of three points in the last six months. Ukip has already enjoyed a strong showing in the latest by-elections, coming a close second to Labour in Rotherham and Middlesborough and finishing third in Croydon North. Earlier this month, business secretary Vince Cable said the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives should now start to "engage with them [Ukip] on the big issues." He added it would be an "insult" to the electorate to continue to dismiss Ukip as a fringe party, saying: "They want to be taken seriously and I think they should be taken seriously. I certainly don't think we should be insulting the voters or indeed insulting Ukip. If they want to be taken seriously we should engage with them on the big issues. Ukip leader Nigel Farage has already claimed the results make his Eurosceptic party "the third force in British politics." "What you can say over the last six months is that we have established ourselves, now, currently as the third force in British politics," he said.