We’re still relevant, says new Ukip boss
UKIP still has a “very big role” to play in making sure the Government does not “betray” Brexit, its interim leader claimed yesterday.
London MEP Gerard Batten became the seventh leader in under two years after members voted out Henry Bolton on Saturday, following controversy over his former girlfriend, the model Jo Marney, 25.
Mr Batten said he had not ruled out standing for the job full time although he “preferred to support other people”.
He denied Ukip had become irrelevant, despite the string of leadership changes and controversies which have followed the EU referendum result in June 2016.
Mr Batten told Sky News: “Brexit isn’t delivered yet and our political establishment are doing everything they can to actually not deliver it or – leave in name but not in reality.
Betrayed
“Ukip still has a very big role to play in making sure that we hold the government to account, so that we actually get what we voted for and we don’t allow it to be betrayed.”
Mr Batten defended dubbing Islam a “death cult” last year, and his claim that a “significant minority” of Muslims are extremists who want to be martyred.
Former Ukip deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans, who clashed with former leader Nigel Farage, told Sky News she “might very well” launch a new leadership bid.
Mr Bolton, meanwhile, suggested he might resume his relationship with Ms Marney, the 25-year-old he left his wife for at Christmas.
After Ms Marney was shown to have sent racist messages about Prince Harry’s fiancee Meghan Markle, Mr Bolton, 54, said he had ended their romance. But he told LBC radio that he had spoken to her on Saturday night.
He said: “It’s a bit early to say what’s going to happen in my private life.”