Nigel Farage has admitted "it may be too late to save UKIP" as he warned the party is "collapsing".

The party's former chief revealed his fears for UKIP's future on the eve of a crunch meeting, at which the fate of current leader Henry Bolton will be decided.

Party members will gather in Birmingham on Saturday for an emergency general meeting to decide whether to endorse a vote of no confidence in Mr Bolton by UKIP's ruling body.

It follows a scandal over the married 54-year-old's relationship with model Jo Marney, 25, who was revealed to have sent racist messages about Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle.

However, Mr Farage has offered his backing to Mr Bolton to remain as UKIP leader rather than risk the party's "self-destruction".


Mr Farage also supports Mr Bolton's bid to overhaul the party's National Executive Committee (NEC), which has lost faith in the party leader amid the scandal over his private life.

Henry Bolton: 'I may win' UKIP EGM

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Farage said: "I believe it would be better to allow Mr Bolton, with all his faults, the chance to turn UKIP into an electoral machine again.

"The alternative is for the party to carry down the path of self-destruction into irrelevance.

"It may be too late to save UKIP, but you never know."

Following Britain's vote to leave the EU, UKIP have slumped in opinion polls and seen a series of prominent figures abandon the party.

The party lost almost every council seat it held in last year's local elections and shed more than three million votes at June's snap General Election compared to 2015.

On Thursday, UKIP suffered a further blow when the party was told it must contribute to a £660,000 legal bill following a defamation action brought against one of its MEPs by three Labour MPs.

It is estimated the party will have to stump up at least £200,000.

Mr Bolton has previously described UKIP's current financial situation as so precarious a new leadership contest to choose his potential replacement would be "unviable".

Image: The UKIP leader has come under fire for his relationship with Jo Marney

Mr Farage said Saturday represents a point at which "the party's future as a force could be determined for once and for all", as he gave a dismal verdict on the current state of UKIP.

Revealing "almost all of UKIP's structures have collapsed", Mr Farage added: "The situation is even worse than the national press realises.

"The basic structures of the party organisation are disappearing; branches are closing and many of the sitting councillors in the forthcoming elections wish to run as independents."

He warned the party would currently be unable to "capitalise" with Leave voters if Brexit is "further watered down or delayed".

This week, UKIP's three members of the House of Lords urged party bosses to appoint London MEP Gerard Batten as interim party leader to replace Mr Bolton.

A UKIP source told Sky News: "The people opposed to Henry have all united together and presented a viable alternative for the interim.

"Gerard has been solid on Brexit, he joined the party in 1994, is an MEP and the three UKIP members of the House of Lords have now backed him.

"It completely nullifies this claim by 'bonking Bolton' that only he can unite the party."

However, the possible appointment of Mr Batten to lead UKIP would prove controversial after he previously branded Islam a "barbaric, regressive ideology" in the wake of last year's Manchester terror attack.