The UKIP
leader, Henry Bolton, has vowed to carry on as leader of the
party, despite losing
a unanimous vote of confidence from the party’s National Executive Committee,
the ruling body of UKIP. They argued that events in Bolton’s personal life had
led to him losing credibility. It means that an Emergency General Meeting of
the party will be called, in 28 days time, where the membership of UKIP will
decide Bolton’s fate.
Given that
Bolton won a leadership election only four months ago, and he has the semi-backing
of ex-leader Nigel Farage, it can’t be entirely discounted that he will lose
the vote. But things do look ominous for him. On Monday a succession of senior
party figures tendered their resignations as spokespersons for the party on
various matters, 16 of them at time of writing, two thirds of UKIPs front
bench.
To recap, the
furore began when Bolton’s girlfriend, Jo Marney tweeted racist comments, in
particular about the unsuitability of Meghan Markle marrying Prince Harry,
later this year. Bolton said that he had ended the relationship, but has been
spotted still going out with Marney, with the inference being that it was a fake
break up.
UKIP has got
form on changing leaders quickly, ever since Farage stood down after the EU
referendum, getting through as many as Chelsea football club do managers. Former
UKIP leader Diane James, who succeeded Farage as leader but has now left the
party, notoriously lasted for only 18 days, citing that she couldn’t work with
other senior members of the party.
Paul Nuttall,
lasted a little longer, but clearly didn’t like the job and resigned after the
2017 general election disaster, where UKIP bombed, falling from 12% of the vote
two years earlier to just 2%. Of course UKIP’s big issue, leaving the European
Union (EU), has now been superseded by the vote to leave the EU and many of
their members have left to join the Tories.
Infighting
(quite literally on occasions) in UKIP is apparently the normal state of play. Robert
Kilroy-Silk flounced out of the party to form a new party, Veritas, which
lasted for about eighteen months, before folding. The MEPs Steven Woolfe and Mike
Hookem were involved in a fracas in their offices in Brussels, which ended with
Woolfe being taken to hospital.
UKIPs
membership figures of 39,000 were last declared before the EU referendum, and
it’s a racing certainty to be less, probably a lot less now, if polling and
election results are anything to go by. There have been high profile
resignations as well, like James and Woolfe. Most people now view the Tories as
the anti-EU party, so it is hard to see where UKIP goes from here.
They have
also lost the status of main protest party, vacated by the Lib Dems when they
went into coalition with the Tories. The party’s finances are said not to be
good either, and of course when we do leave the EU, they will lose that stream
of funding.
Bolton
appears to be taking a leaf out Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn’s book, with his
refusal to be ousted by people at the top of the party, and appealing to the
rank and file of the party, although on a much smaller scale, in terms of
membership.
It is at
least entertaining, unlike the civil war in the Tory party, which has made the
party so shambolic that it is ruining the country. UKIP doesn’t matter, they
are nowhere near power, so we can sit back and enjoy the Carry On. Ironic
really, given UKIPs nostalgia for the Britain of yesteryear. Sid James would
have been perfect playing Bolton and Barbara Windsor, Marney. The Carry On
films series lasted for about as long as UKIP has now.
All things
come to an end, and it looks like UKIP is in terminal decline, which could turn
rapidly into complete collapse. As we know, there is a small constituency vote
for a far right, anti immigrant, anti Muslim party in this country, which the
BNP have exploited in the past, to some extent. UKIP could carry on courting
these voters, but this would leave them very much on the margins of British
politics.
Good
riddance, I say.
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