Ukip will fill vacuum left by Labour says Woolfe

NOMINATIONS have closed in the race to replace Nigel Farage as Ukip leader.

The frontrunner, Steven Woolfe, has been joined by fellow MEPs Bill Etheridge and Jonathan Arnott along with councillor Lisa Duffy.

Mr Woolfe said the party can replace Labour in the North and Midlands.

He promises a “political earthquake” even greater than the party’s push for Brexit in the EU referendum.

The barrister believes his party will “fill the vacuum” left by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his factionalised party.

Ms Duffy is currently the second favourite with former deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans and leading MEP Patrick O’Flynn backing her.

Ms Duffy has argued that the party needs to target both Labour and Tory seats and vowed to “march the people’s army into Westminster”.

Scared

Mr Etheridge emphasised that British values are under threat more than ever before, with the rise of terrorism and fundamentalist Islam.

“Other parties are scared of speaking about this, but Ukip will not be silenced,” he vowed.

As well as being an MEP, Mr Etheridge is a Ukip councillor in Dudley, West Midlands, and has a track record of winning votes in the seats that matter.

He said: “In 2015 we secured a large number of votes across the country, but at the next election we need to win seats.

“I am a former Conservative who won a safe Labour council seat for Ukip and I believe I have a cross-party appeal to voters.”

Mr Arnott is a former chess champion and a North-east MEP.

There were allegations that Mr Woolfe’s membership had lapsed but the list will be finalised tomorrow.