Frontrunner to replace Henry Bolton as Ukip leader called Islam a ‘death cult’
2 min read
The frontrunner to replace beleaguered Ukip leader Henry Bolton has previously referred to Islam as a “death cult”.
Senior party figures have called for MEP Gerard Batten to be appointed interim leader if Mr Bolton is forced out through a vote of no confidence set to be held on Saturday.
However, Mr Batten faced criticism in 2017 after writing in the wake of the Westminster terror attack that Islam was “a death cult, born and steeped in fourteen hundred years of violence and bloodshed, that propagates itself by intimidation, violence and conquest”.
The MEP has warned that the party will be “finished” if Mr Bolton stays on as leader after becoming embroiled in a row over racist texts sent by his ex-girlfriend.
In a letter to the party’s ruling body, Ukip’s three peers have said the Mr Batten should replace the current leader immediately,
Former party leader Lord Pearson, who signed the letter to the NEC, told The Telegraph Mr Batten was “very widely supported.”
“If it was a normal corporate business and we were dismissing the chief executive the shareholders would want to know who was stepping in pretty damn quickly,” he added.
This comes after Mr Bolton suggested over the weekend that racist messages from his former mistress Jo Marney had been "doctored" to make her look worse.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: "The source of those, one of those texts - or a couple of them... he has said they were doctored by him and, indeed, in the days to come there will be more evidence presented as to how they were obtained."
Mr Bolton also claimed he had the backing of most of the Ukip membership.
"I'm getting a huge amount of support from round the country because the membership know what's been going on within the party for a long time and they know I'm not responsible for that...they actually know that I'm embarked on an agenda because I've been touring around the country since October and they are very well aware of the agenda I've embarked on," he said.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
