@mikey
Curiously, Caroline Lucas had also accumulated a public profile as an MEP before standing for Brighton Pavilion - and that only after a 55/45 win over the Green's sitting candidate. Not an out-and-out "parachuted in" stunt but reminiscent of one. Fairer to say that Brighton Pavilion turned itself to majority Green, through the graft of her predecessor, Keith Taylor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Taylor_(British_politician)
and she wouldn't be the first party big-wig to be planted in a "safe seat". That's how we end up with Cabinet ministers who are never in danger of being "sacked" by means of the voters' efforts.
UKIP voters need to move home, cluster in a constituency or five until they win them, with their leader and other senior staff being as bold as Farage was to stand and face the chance of failure, rather than do it slowly, with a substitution step, as the Greens did. Two election cycles now means up to 10 years' wait to get established at Westminster and some people are in their 40s/50s by the time they commit to standing for parliament.
Or look at it another way, 4m out of 65m isn't even 10% of the population. You've barely got started and there's a long way to go to reach 35%, like the Tories do. (smirk)