I’ll stay on as Ukip leader even if I fail to win seat in Parliament, insists Nuttall

Nigel Farage’s successor reveals how he plans to change his party’s image as it faces drop in support

PAUL NUTTALL has declared he will remain Ukip leader even if he fails to win a seat, so he can fundamentally rebrand the party.

Mr Nuttall told The Sunday Telegraph he would not copy Nigel Farage, his predecessor, and stand down if he failed to become an MP.

Instead, he promised to drive through a “whole image change” that will involve ditching the yellow in the party’s colour scheme because it is “garish”.

He also revealed that taking over as leader has been more difficult than he thought before winning the role last November.

“I never expected to come into this and run in a by-election and then face a general election immediately afterwards,” Mr Nuttall said.

“I would professionalise the party, rebrand and get the party ready for 2020. I didn’t foresee any of this happening. But it’s a challenge and we’re going to give it our best shot.”

Ukip is facing a dramatic slump in support, with today’s ORB International poll putting the party on 8 per cent – way down on the 12.6 per cent it got in 2015.

The party is not fielding candidates in 247 seats across the UK – more than a third of the total – and is fighting to define what it stands for now that Brexit is happening.

Mr Nuttall repeatedly refused to say that winning no seats at the election would be a “failure” or whether he believes he will take Boston and Skegness, where he is running. Asked whether he would quit should he fail to become an MP, as Mr Farage did, Mr Nuttall said: “No, I’m not doing that. I will be here to see through the

restructure and the changing of the party.”

He added: “I intend to be around to restructure and rebrand the party and get it ready for the next election. If we get this right, then the post-Brexit Ukip could be bigger than the pre-Brexit Ukip ever was.”

Mr Nuttall wants to implement a new party image to be unveiled at its annual conference in September.

He intends to drop the yellow from the party’s colours but is happy for the purple to stay, which he calls “royal”. The pound sign is also likely to stay. “I do think the whole image needs to change. I think we need to look fresh and modern and forward-looking,” he said.

“The thing about politics is that it is about empathy. We want to get people who voters can empathise with.”

Mr Nuttall has outlined policies designed to win over Ukip’s base, including a “one in, one out” immigration policy that would mean zero net migration.

He has also proposed a ban on the burka. Rejecting suggestions he was moving further to the Right to win back abandoning voters, he said the policies would chime with many.

Mr Nuttall also predicted that the party could see a surge of support in the next 12 to 18 months when Theresa May “betrays” voters over Brexit.

He forecast that the Prime Minister would fall short on promises to end the freedom of movement of EU migrants and would agree to pay Brussels a yearly fee to maximise Britain’s access to markets.