Hate mail was delivered and two men tried to break in after Stoke-on Trent address was shared on social media, says chairman

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, has moved house because of fears for his personal safety, the party has said.

Paul Oakden, Ukip’s chairman, said on Saturday that Nuttall’s house in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where the Ukip leader is standing in the forthcoming byelection, had been targeted after the address was shared on social media.

“Since the address of the house Paul Nuttall has been staying at during the Stoke-on-Trent Central campaign was published on social media there have been a series of concerning incidents at or around it,” Oakden said.

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“The most serious of these was two unknown men attempting to gain access to the house through a rear entrance. There has also been hate mail posted through the letterbox and other intrusive behaviour including trespassing in the private garden of the premises and attempts to take pictures through windows and the letterbox.”

He added that the returning officer for the byelection has been informed of the move.

The house has been the subject of controversy after it emerged last week that it had been declared as Nuttall’s address in his nomination papers for the byelection, on 23 February, before he was resident there. The Electoral Commission’s guidance for candidates says those standing in Westminster elections must give their current home address on their nomination papers; this cannot be just a business address. Nuttall filed his papers on 31 January.

When Channel 4 News’s Michael Crick went to the house on 1 February, it appeared empty. When questioned by Channel 4, the Ukip leader said: “Yes. And I will be [living there]. I’m not now.” Staffordshire police subsequently said they were investigating after receiving a report of an allegation of election fraud.

Ukip said the party was “entirely happy that all rules have been complied with”.

Nuttall defended himself on Twitter, saying: “A candidate being attacked for being prepared to move to his constituency must be a first ...”



The byelection, in the strongly pro-leave seat, is a test of the Ukip leader’s stated intention to take seats from Labour in pro-Brexit areas. It was triggered when Labour’s Tristram Hunt, who had a majority of just over 5,000 over Ukip in 2015, stood down to head the Victoria & Albert Museum.

William Hill’s latest odds, published on Saturday, put Labour marginally ahead, quoted at 5/6 to win with Ukip on evens.

It is an offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983 to knowingly provide false information on a nomination paper; potential penalties are a fine or up to 51 weeks in jail.