Brexit
#UKIP votes to sack leader Bolton
British Eurosceptic party UKIP was thrown into turmoil again on Saturday (17 February) when its members removed leader Henry Bolton (pictured) after less than five months in charge following criticism of his leadership and a scandal about racist comments made by his lover, writes Alistair Smout.
Former army officer Bolton, 54, was not widely known outside the party when he became UKIP’s fourth leader in a year in September.
Backed by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage to turn the party’s fortunes around, Bolton was instead humbled by party members, when 63 percent of 1,378 ballots cast at an Extraordinary General Meeting were for his removal.
Ex-leader Farage, who is still a regular fixture on TV and radio in Britain, continued to back Bolton after the scandal.
Under Farage, UKIP won nearly 4 million votes, or a 12.6 percent share of ballots cast, in the 2015 election on its anti-EU platform. UKIP’s success was a factor in influencing then-Prime Minister David Cameron to hold the Brexit referendum.
But the party has seen its poll ratings slide since then, and has struggled to move out of Farage’s shadow since the referendum.
Outgoing party chairman Paul Oakden said a new leadership election would happen within 90 days. Gerard Batten, a member of the European Parliament for London and the party’s former Brexit spokesman, was made interim leader.
“We’ve had many crises in UKIP, and I think this one today was about whether we have a future or not,” he told party delegates. “I believe that you have made the best decision that you could in the circumstances.”
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