Bolton rejects calls to quit as Ukip leader

Ukip leader Henry Bolton has rejected calls to quit as he vowed to purge the party of those he blamed for “factional infighting”.

A defiant Mr Bolton said Ukip’s ruling national executive (NEC), which passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership on Sunday, was “not fit for purpose” as he promised a new party constitution.

Earlier, a series of senior figures, including deputy leader Margot Parker and assistant deputy leader Mike Hookem, announced they were quitting, insisting his position had become “untenable”.

Mr Bolton said the time had come to “drain the swamp”.

“Without reflecting at all on its individual members, the NEC… is unfit for purpose and has severely handicapped the party’s progress and political delivery for some years, as all recent Ukip leaders will attest,” he said. “It has not only lost the confidence of me as the party leader in its ability to act objectively as the party’s governing body, it has also lost the confidence of a large proportion of the membership.

“The NEC requires significant and urgent reform. To that end, again during the coming weeks, I shall be proposing a new party constitution, with a newly constituted and reformed NEC.”