Ukip attempts to suspend leader amid fresh power struggle within party

Ukip has moved to suspend its leader Richard Braine amid a fresh power struggle within the party.

On Saturday Braine confirmed that Ukip’s national executive committee (NEC) and the party chair, Kirstan Herriot, had attempted to oust him but questioned whether she had the authority to do so.

Braine said: “As I understand it the chairman has asked that I am suspended but I am not really sure whether that’s possible or whether she has the authority to do that. But at any rate – so what. I don’t really accept that the chairman has that power.

“If the NEC of the party wishes to get rid of a leader then it has a vote of no confidence. I’m not aware that there has been any vote.”

He added the last time this had happened was when former leader Henry Bolton was ousted in 2018.

When asked about the motivation for his attempted suspension, he alleged that “Ukip’s NEC is carrying out a purge of members that it does not approve of. But I do not approve of that.”

He also alleged that members of the party’s NEC have been staying on past their agreed terms – an apparent contravention of the party’s constitution. Asked what he would do next, he replied: “Get on with the job.”

Former Ukip leader Gerard Batten tweeted in relation to the matter: “The chairman & NEC are out to destroy Ukip. In addition to running a gerrymandered NEC election they have now ‘suspended’ the membership of the party leader.”

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Batten alleged Braine had already sacked Herriot before the suspension was made.

The news comes after Braine was accused of a “complete insult” in response to his decision to boycott his own party conference last month amid low-ticket sales. Ukip, notorious for its public spats, was engulfed in yet another last month when it failed to sell more than 450 tickets to its two-day conference.

In an email sent to all members at the time, Herriot, backed by Ukip’s NEC, said Braine’s decision not to attend had been a complete affront to “hard-working” party members. She confirmed the conference would go ahead despite Braine’s no-show.

(November 5, 2010)  Nigel Farage

Having previously been leader from September 2006 to November 2009 Farage regained control of Ukip for their last period of stability. He lead them to win almost 4m votes in the 2015 general election, making them the third-biggest party by vote share.

(September 16, 2016)  Diane James

Things went awry shortly after the MEP succeeded Farage in the wake of the Brexit referendum. In just 18 days James was gone, saying splits at the top of the party made it impossible for her to do the job.

(October 5, 2016)  Nigel Farage (slight return)

Farage held the fort as interim leader ahead of a new election.

(November 28, 2016)  Paul Nuttall

The former deputy leader confidently predicted he would help Ukip replace Labour. But this ambition crumbled amid questions about his credibility and a failed tilt at the Stoke Central by-election. He stepped down after Ukip slumped to below 600,000 votes in the 2017 election.

(September 29, 2017)  Henry Bolton

The little-known former army officer beat off six challengers to win, positioning himself as the sensible candidate who would revamp the party structure. But an unexciting start to his tenure turned chaotic after he began a relationship with much younger activist Jo Marney, who turned out to have sent deeply offensive messages.

(February 17, 2018) Gerard Batten

Took the party further to the right with a focus on Islam and appointing convicted fraudster Tommy Robinson as the party's 'grooming gangs adviser'. A crushing defeat in the 2019 European Elections saw the party lose 24 percentage points as voters deserted for the Brexit party, and effectively ended Batten as leader.

(August 14, 2019)  Richard Braine

Ukip members elected Richard Braine as the new leader. Braine said he wanted to establish Ukip as the “far-moderate voice of common sense” in Britain, but within days was embroiled in controversy after footage emerged of him arguing it should be illegal to publicly distribute the Qur’an in the UK, and that some British towns are no-go areas for non-Muslims. In October 2019 an internal power struggle within the party led to attempts to suspend him.

She wrote: “Both I and the NEC believe it is a complete insult to the membership to attempt to cancel the conference because of a potentially low turnout. It is also a particular affront to hard-working regional, county and branch officers who have worked hard in encouraging members to attend the conference to hear Richard lay out his vision for the future of Ukip. It is therefore a particular shame that he has decided not to do this.”

When contacted by the Guardian at the time, Braine had said he would not be commenting and claimed it was an internal decision by the chair to contact party members. However, in an email to Ukip members, Braine confirmed his decision, saying he had been informed by the party treasurer that it was facing a “very low turnout” for its conference.

Braine said he had proposed moving the conference to a venue in north-east England and suggested ticket sales could be boosted by “returning Gerard Batten to good standing to heal the rift with the many members who are boycotting the conference for that reason”. He claimed his advice was rejected.

Batten, who took Ukip in a far-right direction, was barred from running again as leader amid efforts by the party to reinvent itself following a nosedive in the polls and the emergence of the Brexit party.

The Guardian has contacted Ukip for comment.