Ukip chief, 54, leaves wife for model, 25
UKIP’S leader admitted last night that he had left his 42-year-old wife for a model aged just 25.
Henry Bolton, 54, who took over from Paul Nuttall last September, confirmed that he had started a relationship in recent weeks with Jo Marney, a party member from Kent.
Miss Marney, who describes herself as a model, actor and journalist, appears to have spent a good amount of time with Mr Bolton over christmas and has posted Facebook pictures of them together.
She posted one picture showing Mr Bolton with his arm around her on December 16, with the caption: ‘Fantastic Xmas dinner with our leader Henry Bolton.’ On Boxing Day she posted a picture of them together in a bar along with a heart. She wrote: ‘ Fantastic Boxing Day drinks with Henry Bolton.’
then on December 29, she posted a picture that appears to just show Mr Bolton’s feet with union Jack socks.
Miss Marney, who like Mr Bolton lives in Kent, has posed for a series of racy photoshoots as part of her modelling work.
Her Instagram page shows several pictures of her wearing few clothes, including a topless photo in which she is holding a football to cover her modesty, and another in very skimpy hot pants. In a message to ukip members last night, Mr Bolton admitted the relationship, but denied they had carried out a ‘clandestine affair’.
He wrote: ‘In recent weeks, I’ve had a change in my relationship status. If you follow me on social media – and hopefully you all do – you will have already seen that recently I have spent time with somebody who has become increasingly important to me. this isn’t something that I’ve hidden.’
Mr Bolton said members should ‘be confident that it in no way distracts me or our party from the vital mission we have ahead of us’.
He added: ‘Whilst I fully accept that as a national political figure I can expect to be the subject of media attention, I also believe we’re all entitled to a certain degree of privacy. As such, I’ll be making no further comment on the matter.’ Weeks after becoming ukip leader, the former army officer and policeman admitted it had already put a strain on his relationship with his second wife, russianborn tatiana Smurova, 42.
last night a ukip source said that Mrs Smurova-Bolton has been living and working abroad since July and is aware of her husband’s new girlfriend.
In 2016, Mrs Smurova-Bolton gave birth to their daughter, Victoria, on a train at london’s St Pancras station.
Mr Bolton has three children – one aged 32 from his Danish first wife and two aged four and one from Mrs Smurova-Bolton, who is from Kimovsk, near Moscow.
His unusual career has also included an unsuccessful attempt to become an MP standing for the liberal Democrats, and a spell working for the european commission in Brussels. In his message to ukip members last night, Mr Bolton pledged to ‘ramp up’ the party’s profile.
ukip has struggled to remain relevant following the Brexit vote and Nigel Farage’s departure as party leader.
He stepped down as leader in September 2016, but his successor Diane James was in the role for just 18 days before she resigned.
Mr Nuttall took over in November 2016, but resigned last June after the party failed to win a single seat in the general election. Mr Bolton succeeded Mr Nuttall last September.
‘Unusual career’