Sacked Ukip leader pulls the pin as party member

Former Ukip leader Henry Bolton has resigned from the party, days after being ousted from the top job by a members’ vote.

The announcement from Ukip came as Mr Bolton appeared on TV alongside girlfriend Jo Marney, whose racist text messages sparked the furore that led to his removal as leader last weekend after just five months in the role.

Appearing on ITV1’S This Morning, Mr Bolton, 54, was confronted with a message from his wife Tatiana, who said she and their children had been “abandoned and quickly forgotten”.

Former model Ms Marney, 25, admitted text messages in which she said that Meghan Markle’s mixed-race back- 0 Henry Bolton: ousted from top job by members’ vote ground would “taint” the royal family were “disgusting”, though she stressed they were intended to be private.

Mr Bolton denied the couple were “private racists”, telling host Phillip Schofield: “Of course not... I absolutely do not believe that these comments reflect Jo’s core beliefs. They are appalling language.”