Nigel Farage backs Henry Bolton as Ukip leader ahead of crunch meeting
2 min read
Nigel Farage has called on Ukip members to give their backing to party leader Henry Bolton - or face "irrelevance" as an electoral force.
His comments came as the party prepares to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Saturday to decide Mr Bolton's fate.
The beleaguered Ukip boss - who has only been in charge of the party since September - has been under pressure to quit after racist messages sent by his former girlfriend Jo Marney emerged last month.
Mr Bolton was hit by a string of frontbench resignations in the wake of the controversy, but has insisted he is the right man to modernise the party.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Farage said that he believed Mr Bolton should be kept in place to get on with that work.
He said: "The question at the heart of Saturday’s meeting is whether Mr Bolton is the right man to have at Ukip’s reins. His on/off relationship with Jo Marney is wonderful material for the cartoonists and humourists, but it has caused deep consternation in Ukip circles. Without this affair, and the revelation of Ms Marney’s racist messages, this EGM would not be happening. More important to me, however, is whether Mr Bolton can put the party onto a professional campaign footing.
"I do not know what the answer to this question is, but in the past few days he has put forward a new proposed constitution for the party that would remove the current failing NEC (national executive committee) system, and allow the leader to get on with the job far more effectively than he can at present.
"I believe it would be better to allow Mr Bolton, with all his faults, the chance to turn Ukip into an electoral machine again. The alternative is for the party to carry on down the path of self-destruction into irrelevance. It may be too late to save Ukip, but you never know."
Speaking last month, Mr Bolton - who is estranged from his wife and children - insisted his relationship with Ms Marney not "just a quick leg-over or something".
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