Ukip elect Henry Bolton as new leader and unveil controversial new logo

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Former soldier and policeman Henry Bolton has been elected the new leader of Ukip.

Mr Bolton, who saw off challenges from better-known contenders, told UKIP members: "Brexit is our core task. However, it is not the end of the line."

Meanwhile, the party has become involved in a row over its new logo, which bears a strong resemblance to that of English football's Premier League...

Henry Bolton elected UKIP leader

29 September 2017
BBC News

Former soldier and police officer Henry Bolton has been elected UKIP leader - the party's fourth in just over a year.

Mr Bolton, who saw off challenges from better-known contenders, told UKIP members: "Brexit is our core task. However, it is not the end of the line."

Controversial anti-Islam candidate Anne Marie Waters finished second. Some MEPs had threatened to quit if she won.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he was delighted and praised Mr Bolton as "a man of real substance".

The party's leadership has been in flux since Mr Farage quit, following the 2016 referendum which saw the UK vote to leave the EU - the issue for which UKIP had long campaigned.

Mr Bolton's win came as a surprise to some as Sharia Watch founder Ms Waters had been the bookies' favourite and London Assembly member Peter Whittle was considered a front runner.

In the end, Mr Bolton won with 30% of the 12,915 votes cast, Ms Waters got 21% and Mr Whittle came in fifth with 11% in a seven-way contest.

The 54-year-old former soldier, who also served with Thames Valley Police and has worked for the UN, stood for UKIP as Police and Crime Commissioner in Kent in 2016, coming second. In 2005, he was a parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems.

Speaking at the UKIP conference in Torquay, Mr Bolton urged party members to "rally around the party", saying: "Without being united, we cannot lead."

"We can't lead the nation and we can't hold the government to account and we can't achieve our core purpose at all," he said.

He promised to reorganise the party to increase its effectiveness and said he wanted to project UKIP "firmly and decisively into British politics for the good of the nation".

Controversy about Ms Waters' candidacy had prompted threats from some MEPs that they would leave the party if she won. BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said Mr Bolton would be seen as the continuity candidate.

UKIP also unveiled a new logo at its conference, replacing its well-known purple pound sign with a lion - which some, including Gary Lineker, suggested bore a resemblance to that of the Premier League.

Party chairman Paul Oakden told the BBC's Daily Politics he was not worried the similarities might lead to legal issues: "We did our due diligence before we put these logos to the membership and, as I said, we are perfectly comfortable."

Former party leader Paul Nuttall quit after the general election, which saw UKIP's vote share shrink to 1.8% from 12.6% in 2015 - the year before the UK voted to leave the European Union.

His predecessor Diane James, who replaced Nigel Farage, lasted just 18 days in the job, saying she did not have enough authority in the party. Mr Farage returned for a spell as interim leader.

UKIP leadership results

Winner: Henry Bolton, 3,874 votes (29.9%)
Anne Marie Waters, 2,755 votes (21.3%)
David Kurten, 2,201 votes (17%)
John Rees-Evans, 2,021 votes (15.6%)
Peter Whittle, 1,413 votes, (10.9%)
Jane Collins, 566 votes, 4.4%
Aidan Powlesland, 85 votes, 0.65%

Henry Bolton elected UKIP leader - BBC News

 

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The UK is being “buried” by Islam and “swamped” by multiculturalism, Ukip’s new leader Henry Bolton has said.

The little-known one-time Liberal Democrat and army officer used his first speech as leader to claim that public services are being overwhelmed by mass immigration.

Following his surprise win over bookies’ favourite and anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters, Mr Bolton took to the stage at the party conference in Torquay to say he was “proud to be British”.

Ukip's new leader says the UK is being 'swamped' by multiculturalism

'We presently have a net immigration that equates to the population of Wolverhampton or Hull every year,' surprise victor tells conference

Rachel Roberts
1st October 2017
The Independent
42 comments

The UK is being “buried” by Islam and “swamped” by multiculturalism, Ukip’s new leader Henry Bolton has said.

The little-known one-time Liberal Democrat and army officer used his first speech as leader to claim that public services are being overwhelmed by mass immigration.

Following his surprise win over bookies’ favourite and anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters, Mr Bolton took to the stage at the party conference in Torquay to say he was “proud to be British”.

In a question and answer session, he said people have little say in the way in which their communities are being transformed by immigration.

“We presently have a net immigration that equates to the population of Wolverhampton or Hull every year," he said.

“Immigration is overwhelming our public services, housing and communities.

“Doctors’ surgeries are being closed, police numbers are being cut, and crime is increasing. Multiculturalism is swamping or displacing our own British culture.

“This does not create the optimistic, confident nation that we all wish to be.”

He had previously said he wanted the focus of Ukip to shift away from Islam so that it did not become single issue.

But when asked about his comments during the campaign that he was proud of “fighting Islam”, he said: “There is a concern amongst the population writ large that there is an undermining through general immigration and the weight of numbers that we’ve got and Islam as well – that our culture is being buried by this, sort of pushed aside.”

He added: “We will ensure that our schools teach history, and that if people don’t have pride in what their forefathers achieved, they themselves will achieve nothing worthy on the part of their successors.”

But he stopped short of calling for a cap on immigration, which Ukip has previously pledged.

Instead, the party’s fourth leader in the past year called for an Australian-style points based system for those wishing to come to the UK.

He said: “Immigration is overwhelming our public services, which themselves are being slashed – 25 per cent off the police for example, in some cases nearly 50 per cent off local government.

“Housing and communities are being overwhelmed. It is harming our own culture, traditions and way of life.

“We must demand that our own concerns about our own British culture are heard and that feeds into our policy on immigration.”

Anti-Islam candidate Anne Marie Waters, pictured at the Ukip party conference in Torquay, finished second in the leadership contest

Speaking to reporters ahead of the speech, Mr Bolton said: “Anybody who says put a figure on (immigration) is actually being entirely unrealistic and trying to paint politicians like me into a corner that gives you a nice thing to hang a comment on, but you're not going to get it from me because actually we need to be a lot more practical and operational about it.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to cut net migration from the current rate of 246,000 in the year ending March 2017 to “tens of thousands”, with the ending of freedom of movement expected to play a significant factor.

Mr Bolton reaffirmed Ukip’s longstanding call for a so-called “hard Brexit” when he branded the Government’s proposal for a transition period after leaving the EU “unacceptable”.

He mocked Mrs May’s Florence speech on Brexit, claiming it gave out the message that “the UK does not want to leave the EU in anything but name.”

And he said the Government’s pledge for post-Brexit partnerships with the EU over foreign policy, defence and security suggest that Britain will remain under the control of Brussels.

“Does any of this suggest to you that we’re on the way out of the European Union?” he asked.

“I can only conclude that the Conservative Government either has no intention of taking us out of the European Union, or that they are simply too incompetent or negligent to care.

“The Government, far from offering strong and stable leadership, has proven inept and unable to set and pursue clear strategic goals.

”We must demand the repeal of the European Communities Act and be prepared to leave now.“

Mr Bolton was endorsed in the leadership contest by former leader Nigel Farage, after 18 of the party’s 20 MEPs threatened to quit if Ms Waters won.

He stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2005 general election in the Surrey seat of Runneymede and Weybridge, before joining Ukip in 2014. He served in the army for almost 20 years, receiving an OBE in 2013, and was also honoured with an award for bravery during his eight years as a police officer.

Ukip's new leader says UK being 'buried' by Islam and 'swamped' by multiculturalism | The Independent