Ukip branch chair quits over ‘democracy deficit’
UKIP’S Glasgow branch chairwoman has quit claiming there is a “democratic deficit” within the party.
Sarah Devenney, 37, is the latest of several other high-profile Ukip members to walk away in recent weeks.
Many are unhappy about a decision to allow the party’s leader in Scotland, David Coburn MEP, to pick Holyrood candidates.
Democratic decision-making functions in Scotland were suspended by the London-based party hierarchy in 2013 during a period of infighting.
These so-called “special measures” meant that members were not asked to vote for their chosen Scottish Parliament candidates.
Coburn previously said publicly that Holyrood candidates would be selected and ranked by an assessment team led by Ukip director Paul Oakden, in order to “avoid any accusation of bias”.
But this version of events was contradicted when it was revealed in March that Mr Oakden had sent an email to party members which stated the National Executive Committee “have determined that the Ukip Leader in Scotland should devise a list, including candidate rankings for each region of Scotland”.
Ms Devenney said she joined Ukip because she is “passionate” about the UK leaving the European Union but she now believes Ukip is “not the vehicle to achieve a Brexit vote”.
Writing on the Ukip Glasgow branch Facebook page, she said: “I have come to feel that the internal democratic deficit of the party has inhibited the ability of Scottish branches to campaign for Brexit.
“I am not alone: the majority of Ukip’s Scottish chairmen are likewise minded. It is three full years since Scottish members were allowed to elect a Scottish committee and two and a half years of special measures.”
Robert Malyn, a former aide to David Coburn and Glasgow branch secretary who quit Ukip on Sunday, backed the move by the chair of the Glasgow branch.
“Until the democratic deficit in Ukip Scotland is addressed, Ukip will never gain the popular support that it needs to grow,” Mr Malyn said.
Malcolm Mackay, the former vice chairman of Ukip Scotland who quit the party in 2014, added: “I resigned over these same issues two and a half years ago.”
Responding to Ms Devenney’s resignation, a party spokesman said: “Perhaps if the chairman of Glasgow had actually done anything in the campaign rather than just be bitter that she wasn’t chosen to top the list, she would have discovered that growing numbers of Scots will support Ukip this year.”