Natasha Bolter (pictured) is today at the centre of a new row after she was spotted kissing the married party official who investigated her complaint

She was the star Ukip candidate who became embroiled in a party sex scandal after she made claims one of Nigel Farage’s closest allies had propositioned her.

But Natasha Bolter is today at the centre of a new row after she was spotted kissing the married party official who investigated her complaint.

The 39-year-old left the party under a cloud following the saga last year, but this week she was seen enjoying a drink with Ukip’s head of candidates David Soutter, 56, at a four-star Mayfair hotel.

The pair appeared close as they sat together in the bar overlooking Grosvenor Square, with Mrs Bolter putting her arm around the father-of-two as they met on Tuesday evening.

At one point, Mr Soutter, who lives with his wife of 25 years in north Wales, left Mrs Bolter, who was drinking wine, before returning minutes later and telling her: ‘They’re fully booked.’

They enjoyed a quick kiss on the lips shortly before leaving the hotel together with Mr Soutter carrying a small pink cabin bag style suitcase.

Mrs Bolter, a former Labour activist, became one of Ukip’s most prominent candidates after she joined the party last year and gave a speech at its annual conference in September.

But months later she claimed the party was riddled with racism, misogyny and sexual harassment.

Mrs Bolter accused the party’s general secretary Roger Bird of propositioning her over dinner at his London club on the day he interviewed her as a prospective candidate.

She was questioned by Mr Soutter about the complaint at the start of November before it was decided to bring in external HR consultants to conduct an independent investigation.

A couple of weeks later Mr Soutter sent her a text message that read: ‘I can sort this if you will make a formal complaint about what has happened to you including your treatment by Roger who has caused all this to happen.’

Drinks: Natasha Bolter and David Soutter leaving the four-star hotel in Mayfair on Tuesday evening

Ukip’s head of candidates David Soutter, 56, (left). Bolter at the UKIP Party Annual Conference last year

Mr Bird was suspended on December 7, with news of the complaint becoming public the next day.

As the scandal turned into a media storm, Mrs Bolter’s claim to have read politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford unravelled when the institution took the rare step of denying that she had ever attended.

It was also claimed she misspelt her supposed Oxford alma mater Wadham College as ‘Wadam’ on her CV – and said she was 35 years old, rather than 39.

Mr Bird said the pair had been in a consensual relationship, but in a TV interview Mrs Bolter, who is divorced, said: ‘I didn’t sleep with Roger Bird, end of.’

He went on to insist: ‘For the record, yes she did.’

The 41-year-old was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the third party investigation, but he agreed to stand down from his role in Ukip.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage (pictured centre) with then Ukip candidate Natasha Bolter (right)

The new row is awkward for Mr Soutter who is one of the most senior figures in Ukip and is responsible for trying to prevent damaging scandals involving candidates.

Last year at a meeting of activists in Wales he made a plea for members not to embarrass the party.

He said: ‘One of the things that Ukip has lacked as a party – and looking at it the way I’ve been able to from the outside – discipline is one of the things that’s really been missing. Half my job is spent not finding good candidates to stand, it is weeding out the lunatics, the people who shouldn’t be there.’

Mr Soutter lives in a detached house with his second wife, Elizabeth, 49, who last year stood as a Ukip candidate in a local county council election.

He was previously a member of the Conservative Party, before working as a campaign manager for Sir James Goldsmith’s short-lived Referendum Party and then as chief of staff to Robert Kilroy-Silk when he founded his own party, Veritas.

Mr Soutter is also a former member of the Traditional Britain Group, which on its website states: ‘We believe that the heterosexual family is the primary social unit.’

Both Mr Soutter and Mrs Bolter declined to comment last night.

A spokesman for Ukip confirmed that Mr Soutter had initially handled Mrs Bolter’s complaint about Mr Bird.