Nuttall stepping down after his party’s woeful peformance in the polls
PAUL NUTTALL has resigned as Ukip leader after his party’s woeful showing at the General Election.
The Eurosceptic party had been hoping to make gains in Thursday’s poll, with Mr Nuttall running a campaign pledging to “ensure there is no backsliding on Brexit”.
But after Ukip failed to gain a single seat in Westminster – and with Mr Nuttall coming third in Boston and Skegness – he opted to leave his position, telling reporters: “A new era must begin with a new leader.”
He said he had left the foundations for the new leader to build on and ensured that the party was “still on the pitch”.
And he insisted Ukip was “more relevant than ever” and would play the role in the coming months of the “guard dogs of MORE THAN half of London’s MPs are likely to oppose a third runway at Heathrow, according to a group opposed to the airport’s expansion.
Hacan claimed that 31 of the capital’s 73 MPs are “known opponents” of the project, such as Zac Brexit”. Mr Nuttall told a news conference: “It is clear that Ukip requires a new focus, new ideas and a new energy – and it is there amongst our ranks.
“I think, regardless of the score last night, I have laid the foundations for the future in this General Election campaign but it will be for someone else to build on those.”
The party was hoping to make gains in the Lincolnshire seat, which yielded one of the highest votes for Leave in last year’s EU referendum. But Mr Nuttall saw Ukip’s share of the vote slide 26.1 per cent to 3,308 votes, while Labour increased its vote by 8.5 per cent to 10,699 and the Tories by 19.8 per cent to 27,271.
The party announced that former Ukip chairman Steve Crowther had been elected “overwhelmingly” by the national executive committee to lead the party on an interim basis. Goldsmith, Boris Johnson and Vince Cable. John Stewart, Hacan chairman, said: “Once the views of all London’s MPs are known, it is highly likely that a majority will be opposed to Heathrow expansion.”
A public consultation on a new runway closed shortly before the election.