Henry Bolton ‘will resign or be sacked’ over his handling of racist comments by Jo Marney

Henry Bolton’s future as Ukip leader is in the balance, with some senior party figures calling on him to resign despite him ending his relationship with an activist found to have sent a series of racist and offensive messages.

Suzanne Evans, formerly Ukip’s deputy leader, said she expected Bolton to either resign or be sacked because of how he handled his relationship with Jo Marney, who made racial slurs against Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fiancee.

Bolton, who was elected to the role three months ago, said he would stay in the post “for the good of the party” and was being unfairly targeted by people who had always opposed his leadership.

Some senior Ukip figures said Bolton should not be forced out immediately, in part to avoid a fourth leadership election in 16 months.

“In Ukip, we tend to give people another chance, but he’s got a lot of explaining to do and he’d better get started doing it now,” said one.



Bolton faces an investigation by Ukip’s national executive committee (NEC), while Bill Etheridge, one of its MEPs and a former leadership candidate, has resigned as a party spokesman and called for Bolton to go “before his ego finally drags the party down”.

Asked whether Bolton should depart, Evans told BBC Two’s Daily Politics: “Unfortunately, I think he should, and I say that with a very heavy heart, because the last thing we need is another leadership election.

“We had great hopes for Henry Bolton. He promised us he’d be the sensible pair of hands after a very rough journey over the last couple of years with so many different leaders. But unfortunately he wasn’t, was he? So I don’t think he has much choice.”

If he did not resign, Evans said the NEC meeting on Sunday would probably hold a vote of no confidence against him, adding: “I suspect that vote will be won.”

Earlier on Monday, Bolton, 54, announced he had split from Marney, 25, who describes herself as a journalist and model. This followed an apparent demand from senior party figures that he choose between her and the job.

“The romantic element of the relationship is over, I’m afraid, as of last night,” Bolton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He described Marney’s comments as “indefensible”.

Bolton said he met Marney a month ago, and told his wife, Tatiana, three days later. She lives in Vienna with their daughters, aged four and 18 months, something Bolton said was partly down to “family finances”. His wife works for the OSCE, while the Ukip leader’s post is unpaid.

Bolton said any calls for him to step down had come from “people who for some time have been trying to undermine the leadership of the party in any case”.

Bolton said he had been unaware of Marney’s comments, which also targeted immigrants and Grenfell Tower families. “I’ll be entirely honest, however appalling and insulting those comments that they made in those direct, personal messages are, I honestly don’t believe that those are her core beliefs,” he said.

Saying the pair had had “quite intense discussions” before splitting, Bolton said he would not entirely abandon Marney. “I’m going to stand by her and the family in terms of trying to put her life back together. This is not a cold parting of the ways,” he said.

The senior party source said Bolton needed to work fast if he wanted to save his job. “I think it’s time he spoke to the members and elected members, and not just the party’s bureaucrats,” they said.

The threat to Bolton’s position came as much from a sense that he had not excelled in his role as his relationship with Marney, the source said.

There has been some speculation that if Bolton did step down, Nigel Farage could return to lead Ukip for what would be, counting one caretaker role, a fourth time.

However, some senior members say that while Farage has yet to outline his plans, they are doubtful as to whether he would want to give up his many media commitments to take over a party that has slumped drastically since it finished third by vote share in the 2015 election under his leadership.