I’m in love, says Ukip leader of model fling
Ukip’s leader admits that he could resume romance with model following split over racist messages row
Ukip’s Henry Bolton has said his short-lived affair with a 25-year-old model was “the happiest I have been in years”, despite the turmoil it caused to his position as party leader. Mr Bolton, 54, met Jo Marney at a Christmas party and left his wife and family. However, he ended the romance last week after racist text messages sent by Miss Marney emerged. Asked if they were in love, Mr Bolton told The Daily Telegraph: “Yeah, absolutely. The anguish that Jo and I have gone through...”
TO HIS critics it was a three-week fling with a 25-year-old glamour model that left both his future and that of a political party hanging in doubt.
But Henry Bolton, Ukip’s leader, yesterday said his romance with Jo Marney made him “the happiest I have been in years” and hinted that he could rekindle it in future. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph he said that he is in love with Ms Marney.
He added that he “bitterly regrets” the anguish he caused his wife after deserting her and their two children at Christmas following his meeting with Ms Marney.
However, asked if he rules out getting back together with Ms Marney, he replied: “I don’t rule it out, not at all.”
Asked if he still loves her, he replied: “Yeah, absolutely. The anguish that Jo and I have gone through…”
He denied that the relationship was “a moment of insanity”. He said: “There’s far more depth to this. Put politics and political views aside. Relationships aren’t based on political views.
“Yes I have to consider that when I’m leader, of course I do, and in terms of not only the reality but the presentation of it. But it doesn’t in any way negate the strength of emotional feelings that exist between two adults.” He said that he “feels the age difference” but insisted that it doesn’t “change the strength of feeling”. He said: “This is all pretty fast and furious. There’s pressure to really understand what our relationship is. The feelings are there. I have seen the distress that she has gone through. The conversation we had on Sunday we found very difficult indeed.” He added: “I have to say that in that brief time we had in that uninterfered with relationship I haven’t been that happy in many years. That relaxed, that comfortable. She needs to sort her life out, I need to sort my life out. We will see what happens going forward.” Mr Bolton, 54, put his relationship with Ms Marney on hold on Sunday after it emerged she made racist comments about Meghan Markle in messages to a friend. However, he denied that the relationship was a “flash in the pan”, describing it as a “thunderbolt” and saying he does not rule out getting back together with her. “Who knows what the future will bring,” he said. Mr Bolton first met Ms Marney at a Ukip Christmas Party on
‘I have seen people die, I have seen people blown up, I have seen people shot. Even the Taliban doesn’t quite prepare you for Ukip’
Dec 16. He said: “She was an intelligent, sensible woman. She is an attractive woman. I was slightly surprised at the level of intellect that she demonstrated. I found that quite intriguing.” He subsequently flew to Vienna to spend Christmas with his wife, Tatiana Smurova-bolton, but says that within days their holiday descended into acrimony. “There have been difficulties in our marriage,” he said. “This came to a head in the week just before Christmas, when we had some very difficult conversations.
“I had been asked to write an article. She said ‘no, you are here with us, you are not here to work’. If a relationship is compromising my duties and responsibilities to this party, then I find that unacceptable. I can’t do that. The party came first.
“So I popped smoke and withdrew. There’s too much tension here, you’re compromising my leadership, we’re having personal difficulties, my resilience has worn out. I’m going.”
Mr Bolton returned home and spent Christmas Day alone. The next day he was invited by Ms Marney to a pub for a drink. “We talked about politics, we talked about immigration,” he said. “She struck me as being politically very aware with clear opinions. I found her company very pleasant in every regard. Our relationship started that day.” The couple were together for five days before news of their relationship became public, and on Sunday it emerged that Ms Marney had described Ms Markle as a “dumb little commoner” with a “tiny brain”, before saying that she would never have sex with a “Negro”.
Mr Bolton said that while he was “appalled” by the messages, their publication left Ms Marney “absolutely devastated”. He said: “Her life has been turned on its head by this. Her modelling career is finished. There have been times I have been seriously concerned for her welfare.” Mr Bolton blames enemies in Ukip for the publication of further messages in which she tried to argue for the gravity of animal rights by comparing them to the sexual abuse of babies.
He is determined to confront party members whom he accuses of obtaining compromising material about Ms Marney in a bid to destroy him. He has obtained messages sent by Ben Walker, a Ukip activist, to a former friend of Ms Marney in which he offers to help publish posts that he says will “finish” Mr Bolton and Ms Marney.
He says that the former friend will be “paid for coming forward with this”. Mr Walker insisted the friend of Ms Marney had approached him about publishing her compromising messages. Mr Bolton believes that as many as four MEPS and two members of Ukip’s National Executive Committee are plotting to remove him but insists he is “not going anywhere”.
On Sunday he faces a potential vote of no confidence by the NEC, but he warned those plotting against him that they pose an “existential threat” to Ukip. He said: “These people who are trying to undermine my leadership are directly undermining the party and they know it. I’m going nowhere.
“I have seen people die, I have seen people blown up, I have seen people shot. Even the Taliban doesn’t quite prepare you for Ukip though.”
Bill Etheridge, a Ukip MEP who has called for Mr Bolton to go, said: “My calls for him to resign have not been based on his private life but have been entirely based on his performance as a leader, which I think has been risible.”