Fresh Ukip turmoil as party members vote to dump Henry Bolton as leader
2 min read
Ukip has been plunged into a fresh crisis after party members voted to dump Henry Bolton as leader.
At an extraordinary general meeting in Birmingham, they voted 63% to 37% for him to stand down just five months after he was elected to the post.
Remarkably, it means Ukip will be looking for its sixth leader since Nigel Farage resigned in 2016.
MEP Gerard Batten - who once referred to Islam as a "death cult" - has been installed as interim leader and bookies' favourite to take on the job full-time.
Today's emergency meeting was called in the wake of the controversy over racist messages sent by Mr Bolton's former girlfriend, Jo Marney.
In Facebook posts, the 25-year-old glamour model had said Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle would "taint" the royal family and also described Muslims as a "cancer".
More than half of Mr Bolton's frontbench quit their roles in protest, but he insisted he would not be quitting - sparking today's EGM.
Speaking yesterday, the former Lib Dem insisted the last two months had "been an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy".
He added: "I understand the scrutiny and public interest but it's been going on for six weeks.
"There's probably been nothing like that since the Profumo affair or Diana and Dodi al Fayed."
In a statement, Gerard Batten - who has appointed fellow MEP Mike Hookem as his deputy - said: "I deeply regret that we found ourselves in this situation, and it gives me no pleasure or satisfaction whatsoever that we have reached this outcome. But we have, and UKIP now has to move forward.
"I volunteered for, and accepted, the post of Interim Leader purely and simply because I believe passionately in UKIP and the cause that we represent.
"Ukip is needed now more than ever. Brexit has not been achieved and the great danger is that our political class will engineer an EU Withdrawal Agreement whereby we leave in name but not in reality.
"First and foremost, Ukip has to continue the fight for a complete an unencumbered exit from the European Union, and the restoration of Britain’s status as an independent, democratic nation state.
"There are a host of other areas where the interests of the broad mass of our people are not represented by our political class. I want Ukip to represent those people and their interests.
"Ukip has achieved great things and I want enable us to build on those achievements. Despite our recent difficulties I believe that Ukip can regenerate itself as a fighting force in politics."
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