Farage backs Ukip leader’s refusal to quit
Nigel Farage backed Henry Bolton’s decision not to resign as Ukip leader despite two-thirds of his spokesmen quitting in protest. Writing on The Daily Telegraph’s website, Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, said Mr Bolton should copy Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, and win the backing of rank and file members despite the lack of support from Ukip’s leadership team. His intervention came a day after the party’s ruling national executive committee voted to pass a motion of no confidence in Mr Bolton.
Christopher Hope
Jack Maidment
NIGEL FARAGE has backed Henry Bolton’s decision not to resign as leader of the UK Independence Party despite two-thirds of his spokesmen quitting in protest.
The former Ukip leader’s intervention came a day after the party’s ruling national executive committee overwhelmingly voted to pass a motion of no confidence in Mr Bolton.
Writing on The Daily Telegraph website, Mr Farage said Mr Bolton should copy Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, and win the backing of rank and file party members despite the lack of support from Ukip’s leadership team and its national executive committee.
He said: “As one party spokesman after another resigns, I am reminded of the nightmare Jeremy Corbyn faced in 2016 when 21 members of his shadow cabinet resigned. Corbyn was written off by the press, but the rank and file membership saved him.
“If Bolton has the courage and the vision to introduce a new [Ukip] constitution, and shows that he can be a strong spokesman for Britain leaving the single market, taking back its fisheries and restoring pride in the UK, he may well surprise all of his critics too.”
He added: “Whatever speculation there is about new political parties being formed and led by me, the fact is Ukip has the recognition as the party that wants a clean Brexit and dares to talk about immigration.
“I have no intention of leading any new political party. I would just like to see a reformed Ukip.”
In a 24-hour period of political chaos, Ukip’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Bolton by 14 to one late on Sunday.
By last night, 16 of the party’s 24 spokesmen had quit their roles in protest at Mr Bolton’s refusal to quit, including eight who went between dawn and 5.30pm yesterday.
However, the defiant Ukip leader – who is left with just eight party spokesmen – vowed to “drain the swamp” and put an end to the factional infighting in the beleaguered Eurosceptic political party.
Mr Bolton’s choice of words raised questions about whether he is being advised by Jo Marney, his 25-year-old former girlfriend, who on Sunday said on social media that “to say the swamp needs to be drained is an un- derstatement”.
In a statement which he read from outside his hotel in Folkestone, Kent, at just after 4pm, Mr Bolton said: “I respect the next steps in the constitutional process and will therefore not be resigning as party leader. I repeat I shall not be resigning as party leader.”
Mr Bolton is also said to have told friends that the party treasurer has stopped him receiving any salary in a further effort to oust him as leader. His fate now lies in the hands of the Ukip party membership. Mr Bolton said the NEC was “unfit for purpose” and that the ruling committee had “lost the confidence” of not only him but also much of the party’s rank and file.
Last night, he was reported to be meeting with just over a dozen supporters in a pub in Folkestone to plan how to win the vote at next month’s EGM.