UKIP: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING PARTY!

Henry Bolton has been removed from the leadership of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) after a special general meeting, in which party members passed a "no confidence" vote by 867 to 500. 

When he was elected last September, he got 3,874 votes out of over 10,000 cast. 

The meeting follows a "no confidence" vote by the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), which led to the general meeting after Bolton refused to step down when it was discovered that his girlfriend had tweeted uncomplimentary things about Meghan Markel, Prince Harry's bride-to-be, and Black people. 

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage had supported Bolton as a stalking horse to weaken the NEC, which both he and Bolton believes has too much power in the party. 

Now the Party is faced by another election campaign after only 5 months, and at a time when the party is suffering financially after a successful "lawfare" attack by the Labour Party that will force the party to contribute towards around £200,000 to a £660,000 legal bill.

In September 2014 Jane Collins, the UKIP Member of the European Parliament for the Yorkshire and Humber region claimed, not unreasonably, that three Labour MPs from Rotherham -- Sarah Champion, John Healey and Kevin Barron -- had known about the widespread child sex abuse by Muslim gangs in their town that had been going on for decades and had failed to do anything about it.

Jane Collins

Despite the extremely high plausibility of this claim, the three Labour MPs were able to successfully sue Ms. Collins for defamation last year, with the judge, Mr Justice Warby, ruling that Collins should pay £54,000 in damages to each MP, as well as their costs, with an interim payment of £120,000.

The £200,000 that UKIP is expected to pay would not be a big amount for a major political party, but it is a massive amount for UKIP, which has been “living hand to mouth since 2015,” according to its treasurer John Bickley. Bolton as leader did not receive a salary, and the Party's only full-time paid member of staff, its spokesman Gawain Towler is expected to leave soon. 

The bookies favourite to succeed Bolton is Peter Whittle who is openly gay. This fact that should make it more difficult for the media to attack and criticise him, even when he does something wrong.


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