MEP is among the candidates to be named new Ukip leader
THE SEARCH for Ukip’s next leader has taken step forward after nominations for candidates to replace Paul Nuttall closed yesterday.
Among those reportedly vying to take the top job are deputy leader Peter Whittle, Scottish leader David Coburn, Yorkshire MEP Jane Collins, London Assembly member David Kurten and former Kent police and crime commissioner candidate Henry Bolton.
Former leader Nigel Farage has said he will not stand.
Previous leadership candidate Bill Etheridge withdrew on Wednesday with a warning that candidates like Ms Waters and Mr Whittle would take the party to a “dark place”.
Patrick O’Flynn, the party’s former economics spokesman, stood down on Thursday saying all the potential candidates for the party’s leadership disagree with him on its future policies on tax and spending.
Mr Nuttall stood down after Ukip failed to win any seats at the General Election. This triggered the third Ukip leadership race in a year, with former leader Diane James having quit in October just 18 days after taking the job.
She had won the contest to replace Mr Farage, who stepped down as Ukip leader after the EU referendum.
Speaking at the time, Mr Nuttall pledged that Ukip under his successor would continue to be a “straight-talking” party that says “what everybody else is thinking”.
“If Ukip is to prosper, it must continue to be the outrider of British politics – the party that leads and does not follow,” he said.
Local party websites suggest nominations closed at 5pm yesterday, though the full list of candidates is not expected to be announced until several days afterwards.
Candidates for the leadership must be vetted by Ukip’s National Executive Committee before securing a place on the ballot paper.
The new leader will be announced at Ukip’s conference in Torquay on September 29. RAIL FARES are set to “rocket” next year, with European owners of UK train services “robbing” passengers to hold down their domestic prices, a new study claims.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union published a prediction of rail fares, which will rise in line with August’s RPI inflation.
The RMT calculated what a 3.5 per cent increase would be on some key routes, pointing out that passengers travelling on services operated by Italian, German and Dutch state railways will be paying much more than elsewhere in the EU for comparable journeys run by the same company. The union said passengers in the UK travelling on Italian stateowned C2C railways are paying 2.4 times more than their counterparts on similar services run by the same operator in Italy.
And it claimed travellers on German state-owned Arriva North railways are paying a third more than their counterparts on similar services run by the same operator in Germany.
Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies and Network Rail, said: “The RMT isn’t comparing like with like; our trains are often more frequent and with better journey times than in other countries. Investment in rail across Britain is making journeys better and connecting the country better.”