The 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election was called after the resignation of
Paul Nuttall
Paul Andrew Nuttall (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician who served as Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2016 to 2017. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, and ...
as leader of the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
on 9 June 2017, following the poor performance of the party in the
2017 general election
This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 November ...
. Former party chairman
Steve Crowther was chosen three days later to serve as interim leader.
On 11 August, the party confirmed that eleven candidates had been cleared to stand for the leadership.
Subsequently, the number on the ballot fell to seven as four withdrew to support other candidates.
The election was won by
Henry Bolton with 30.0% of the vote.
Election rules
The leadership contest took place under a first-past-the-post system, where the candidate with the greatest number of votes became leader.
According to party rules, candidates had to have been party members for at least two years as of 23 June 2017, and needed the support of one hundred members across at least ten local parties. Candidates paid a £5,000 deposit, half of which was refundable for candidates who received at least 20% of the vote.
Timetable
The election timetable is as follows:
Campaign
There was immediate speculation that former leader
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
MEP might stand for a third period as leader.
Bill Etheridge
William Milroy Etheridge (born 18 March 1970) is an English politician who was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands region. He was elected in 2014 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, but left the pa ...
MEP and
Thanet District Council Thanet may refer to:
*Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England
*Thanet District, a local government district containing the island
*Thanet College, former name of East Kent College
*Thanet Canal, ...
leader Chris Wells both indicated they might stand if Farage did not.
Farage subsequently announced in early July that he would not be standing. In the event, neither Etheridge nor Wells stood for the leadership; Etheridge became the running mate of
John Rees-Evans.
A key divide between candidates was between what ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described as "Farage-ist
economic libertarians" like Etheridge and the "more hard-right,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
-focused"
Anne Marie Waters
Anne Marie Dorothy Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a far-right politician and activist in the United Kingdom. She founded and led the anti-Islam party For Britain until its dissolution in 2022. She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an or ...
and
Peter Whittle.
Etheridge stated that "whichever side wins, the other side won't have a future in the party".
In early July, over a thousand new members had joined the party in only two weeks, leading to accusations of
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
infiltration in support of Waters.
Party sources suggested Waters had concluded a deal with Whittle that were he to win, she would become deputy leader, which Whittle denied.
Nominations closed on 28 July, with candidates then being approved as candidates by the party's executive.
On 21 August the number fell to ten, when David Allen withdrew to support
Henry Bolton.
The number of candidates fell again on 31 August, to seven, as Ben Walker,
David Coburn MEP and Marion Mason all stepped down in order to form a ''"Victory for the Ukip United"'' ticket with
Jane Collins
Jane Maria Collins (born 17 February 1962) is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019. She was elected in May 2014 as a member of the UK ...
. The four wanted to see the party reflect Farage's leadership, rather than "banging on about Islam and gay marriage". Were Collins to be elected, Coburn would have become Deputy Leader with Walker as Party Chairman.
Controversy
At least 18 of the party's 20 MEPs were reported to be considering resigning and forming a new party if Waters won the leadership or was given a senior role in the party, given her anti-Islam views and support from the far-right.
Etheridge publicly said that he would resign if Waters won, and
Jonathan Arnott
Jonathan William Arnott (born 12 January 1981) is a British politician and former schoolteacher. After the 2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, 2014 European Parliament election, he served as a Member of the European Parliam ...
MEP said it would be difficult for him to remain.
Etheridge subsequently launched his third leadership bid, having previously declared in both of UKIP's 2016 leadership elections.
Etheridge withdrew his candidacy on 26 July, two days before close of nominations. He urged candidates from the "libertarian" wing of the party to unite against what he described as fringe candidates using the party "as a vehicle for the views of the
EDL and the
BNP". He said he would leave the party if Waters or Whittle won the leadership.
Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby (born 10 February 1993) is a British far-right political figure and author who was previously active in a number of groups and campaigns, including the British National Party and Liberty GB. In 2017 he was associated with Anne Mar ...
, a former parliamentary candidate for
Liberty GB
Liberty Great Britain or Liberty GB was a minor far-right British nationalist political party founded and led by Paul Weston that described itself as "counter-jihad".
Liberty GB was anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and traditionalist. The group' ...
who as a former BNP member is barred from joining UKIP, was reported to be helping Waters in her campaign.
Controversy over Waters continued, with
Mike Hookem
Michael Hookem (born 9 October 1953) is a British politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019.
A former member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Hookem served as UKIP's Dep ...
MEP resigning as the party's deputy whip in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
in protest at her candidacy and at the chief whip
Stuart Agnew
John Stuart Agnew (born 30 August 1949) is a British politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England region for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2009 to 2019.
Early life and career
Agnew was bo ...
's support for her. Hookem described Waters as "far-right".
Nathan Gill
Nathan Lee Gill (born 6 July 1973) is a British politician, who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to J ...
MEP also said he would leave the party if she won. Waters and Whittle both expressed concern at
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
councils in the UK.
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
rights defined another split between those who declared as candidates, with three (Whittle, Waters and Coburn) being openly gay, while
David Kurten
David Michael Kurten (born 22 March 1971) is a British politician who has served as leader of the Heritage Party since September 2020. He previously was a member of the London Assembly (AM) for Londonwide from 2016 to 2021. Elected as a UK Ind ...
and John Rees-Evans had both said that they oppose same-sex marriage. Kurten faced criticism when he claimed that gay people are more likely to be abused as children. Whittle retorted: "Neither I, nor any of the gay friends and colleagues I have known over 35 years, were sexually abused."
In August, Rees-Evans announced a proposal to offer £9,000 and
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
to Britons with dual nationality, in return for them moving to countries where they have the right to settle. They would be required to start a business and trade with the UK. This would be to help achieve "negative net immigration towards one million a year", and would be funded by cutting the foreign aid budget. He was condemned by rivals Whittle and Collins; both Collins and Liberal Democrat MP
Tom Brake
Thomas Anthony Brake (born 6 May 1962) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carshalton and Wallington in London from 1997 to 2019.
He was appointed Director of the cross party pressure group Unlock ...
compared the proposal to the BNP's manifesto.
On 24 August, Lawrence Webb, UKIP group leader on
Havering London Borough Council
Havering London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Havering is divided into 18 wards, each elect ...
and former mayoral candidate, tweeted that he "won’t stand for 2018 local elections if Peter Whittle wins". The following day, the ''
Romford Recorder
The ''Romford Recorder'' is a local newspaper for the town of Romford, the principal town of the East London Borough of Havering. The ''Romford Recorder'' serves all of Havering.
References
External links
*
*
London newspapers
Media an ...
'' reported that all six of Havering Council’s UKIP councillors "will not stand in next year’s local elections if Peter Whittle is named leader of their party".
Candidates
Declined
*
Phillip Broughton
Phillip Broughton is a British former semi-professional wrestler and politician. Broughton previously ran his own wrestling promotion GBW and is a 3-time GBW Hardcore Champion. Broughton stood for the UK Independence Party in Hartlepool (UK Parli ...
, Parliamentary candidate for
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
; candidate for Leader in
September 2016
*
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
, former Leader of UKIP (2006–2009 and 2010–2016; interim in 2016); MEP for
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
*
Neil Hamilton, Leader of UKIP in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and in the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
;
Member of the National Assembly for Wales
A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...
(AM) for
Mid and West Wales
Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales refers to an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used ...
; Co-Deputy Chair of UKIP (2014–2016)
Withdrawn
*
David Coburn MEP (endorsed
Jane Collins
Jane Maria Collins (born 17 February 1962) is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019. She was elected in May 2014 as a member of the UK ...
)
* Marion Mason (endorsed Jane Collins)
* Ben Walker (endorsed Jane Collins)
*
Bill Etheridge
William Milroy Etheridge (born 18 March 1970) is an English politician who was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands region. He was elected in 2014 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, but left the pa ...
MEP
(endorsed
John Rees-Evans)
* David Allen (endorsed
Henry Bolton)
Results
Aftermath
Bolton said that his victory had prevented UKIP from becoming a British version of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
, condemning rhetoric of a war with Islam. He went on to be sacked as party leader by a vote at an emergency conference of the party in February 2018.
Waters described the election result as a victory of jihad against truth. Singer
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
claimed that the party had rigged the vote in order to prevent Waters from winning.
Rees-Evans resigned from UKIP to found a new political party, called Affinity, but instead joined the
Democrats and Veterans
The Democrats and Veterans Direct Democracy Party (DVDDP) was a political party in the United Kingdom. It became the 5 Star Direct Democracy Party.
The party was founded in 2018 by former UK Independence Party, UKIP member and Gulf War veteran Gav ...
party and assuming its leadership. Waters set up a new political party,
For Britain
The For Britain Movement was a minor far-right political party in the United Kingdom, founded by the anti-Islam and "counter-jihad" activist Anne Marie Waters after she was defeated in the 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election.
His ...
. Powlesland left UKIP and stood as a local election candidate for the
Libertarian Party UK in May 2018.
References
{{2017 United Kingdom party elections
2017 elections in the United Kingdom
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
September 2017 events in the United Kingdom
UK Independence Party leadership election