‘Black Death’ Ukip will rise again, general secretary insists

UKIP’S general secretary compared his party to “the Black Death” after it lost almost all of its council seats.

With one council left to declare, Ukip had lost 57 out of 60 seats up for grabs. Paul Oakley, its general secretary, said the plague had caused mayhem in the Middle Ages before going “dormant”, as he said Ukip will rise again.

He added that “our time isn’t finished because Brexit is being betrayed”.

Challenged over whether he wanted to compare his party to a plague that killed millions, Mr Oakley said: “Absolutely. What’s wrong with that?

“It also led to economic growth and the Renaissance. It got rid of the whole issue of servitude, basically, and allowed people to go into the towns and escape their landlords and create their own businesses.”

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, said: “The real point is that they hardly fielded any candidates.” Last night Gerard Batten, Ukip’s interim leader, blamed Henry Bolton, the former leader, saying “a number of very good councillors” had “walked away”.