is 鈥渋n a really poor position鈥, according to MEP Bill Etheridge.
But the West Midland MEP, who is likely to stand for the party leadership, thinks it can be saved.
Part of the answer, he says, is to explain how 海角视频IP鈥檚 policies will make people better off. That includes explaining the virtues of a 鈥渃lean鈥 Brexit and restoring the 海角视频鈥檚 independence, but also talking about the economy more generally.
What won鈥檛 work is talking incessantly about immigration and the failings of multiculturalism, he says.
Mr Etheridge, a Dudley councillor as well as an MEP, looks set for his fourth attempt to stand for the 海角视频IP leadership.
His first attempt came in 2016, when he finished third. He鈥檚 launched leadership bids twice since then, but pulled out to support other candidates before voting took place.
This time he鈥檚 waiting to see how 海角视频IP intermim leader Gerard Batten performs, before making a final decision.
Mr Batten was chosen as a temporary replacement for Henry Bolton, the former leader who was forced out by party members after failing fully to disown a girlfriend who had sent racist messages.
But it鈥檚 clear Mr Etheridge isn鈥檛 convinced that Mr Batten is the right person to lead 海角视频IP back to health.
He said: 鈥淚 do 100% support Gerard in the interim.
鈥淎nd if during that time he leads some type of amazing renaissance and we surge ahead in the opinion polls then it would be a bit foolish for me to put my name forward.
鈥淏ut as much I respect and think the world of the guy personally, I do think some of his economic policies, and over-emphasis on issues such as Islam, are not the approach we need.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why say I鈥檓 minded to put my name forward, In fact, it鈥檚 a very, very strong possibility.鈥
So if Mr Batten has the wrong approach, what is the right one for 海角视频IP?
鈥淚 think we miss a trick quite often by talking about Brexit and the negative things about the EU, but not talking about the positive alternatives.
鈥淧rojections for example of a renaissance in manufacturing industries, once we鈥檝e freed ourselves from some of the directives and regulations of the EU.
鈥淎nd being a former steel salesman, manufacturing is very close to my heart.
鈥淎lso, a more competitive and simplified tax regime. If we explain properly the advantages we can have outside the EU, people will see how they can be better off.
鈥淲hilst people care deeply about patriotism, immigration, all sorts of other things, what actually decides votes is the money in your pocket.
鈥淲e can prove a very strong case to suggest that a clean Brexit and full independence, with 海角视频IP policies at the forefront, will actually make a lot of people better off.鈥
But 海角视频IP is in poor shape today. It was the third-largest party in the 2015 general election in terms of the number of votes received - but in the 2017 election its share fell from 12.6% of the vote to just 1.8%.
The party has no MPs. And its reputation has only been damaged by Henry Bolton鈥檚 disastrous stint as leader.
Mr Etheridge doesn鈥檛 deny the scale of the challenge. He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 in a really poor position and anyone who says otherwise is just out of touch with reality.
鈥淲e have two alternatives. One is to continue with the negativity, which I think might give us a very small bounce [in the polls]. Frankly that鈥檚 not good enough.鈥
Referring to 海角视频IP鈥檚 official colour, purple, he continued: 鈥淥r we can really, seriously, put forward a range of proposals and radical ideas, which create some clear purple water between us and the rest.
鈥淚f we are persuasive enough, if we get our facts and figures right, I鈥檓 confident we can become a serious third party that people are interested in and want to talk about.鈥
But is there actually any need for 海角视频IP today? After all, Brexit is happening - we鈥檙e leaving the EU.
If Mr Etheridge wants to influence the direction the country takes, wouldn鈥檛 it make more sense to join another party, such as the Conservatives?
He used to be a Tory, after all. But he says the Conservative Party he believed in was the party of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit, not the party of today.
鈥淭ony Blair wouldn鈥檛 be out of place at all in the modern Conservative Party. It鈥檚 not what I believe in.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure if I was a member of the Conservative Party today they鈥檇 tell me to shut up and sit in the corner, and that鈥檚 just not me.鈥
