Leadership hopeful’s donkey joke backfires

A former Ukip parliamentary candidate who once accused a “homosexual donkey” of trying to rape his horse has announced he is running for the party’s leadership.

John Rees-Evans apologised for his controversial 2014 comments, describing them as “playful banter with a mischievous activist”.

He told the anecdote after anti-Ukip protesters asked him to respond to comments apparently made by another member of the party that “some homosexuals prefer sex with animals”.

Mr Rees-Evans then replied: “Actually I’ve witnessed that.”

He then told his story: “I’ve got a horse and it was there in the field. And a donkey came up – my horse is a stallion – and a donkey came up which was male, and I’m afraid tried to rape my horse.”

As he announced his candidacy for the leadership, Mr Rees-Evans said: “I concede it was a mistake to be playful with an activist in the street, the fact is I’m not a politician.”

The former Cardiff South and Penarth parliamentary candidate also admitted that he once took a handgun to Ikea in Bulgaria, where he has a home. He said: “I do IPSC which is competitive, speed pistol shooting. Of course, I was trained by the British Army to operate those weapons. It’s a waste of taxpayer money if I don’t maintain those skills.” Asked if he took a gun into the store, he said: “Yes, in fact I did because it simply wasn’t safe to hand it over to the security and there were things I had to get.”

John Rees-Evans