UKIP got about as many votes (1 seat; 4M votes) as the SNP (56 seats; 1.5M votes) and the LibDems (8 seats; 2.5M votes) combined. FPTP just disadvantages parties whose supporters are spread out. It makes sense if you think about how no one really belongs to the abstract entity of the 'UK' as much as they belong to a region. Even if the UKIP has widespread support, it might not make sense for them to represent any region at all if they're not the most popular party in that region.

FPTP is built on the principle of regional representation, which many people would probably consider important.

Edited 5/9/2015 03:08:13

FPTP is built on the principle of regional representation, which many people would probably consider important.

So is the single transferable vote, but it's much more proportional.

UKIP came second 180+ times, which equates to sweet fuck all under the system.

They have less seats than Plaid Cymru and the SDLP. But the claim that UKIP aren't regional is wrong, they only got a handful of votes outside of England (mostly in Wales). Their problem is that England is huge.

Multi member seat constituencies with STV would give them a chance

Multi-member first-past-the-post is probably the only alternative now...