Dinner at the Mayfield then back to London and a crisis for UKIP leader

The embattled UKIP leader rushed back from a night in Scarborough to deal with the fallout from his partner's '˜racist' texts.
Henry BoltonHenry Bolton
Henry Bolton

Henry Bolton’s survival as Ukip leader is in the balance after his ex-girlfriend was suspended from the party over “racist” remarks about Meghan Markle

Senior Ukip figures called for him to resign and the party’s chairman, Paul Oakden, said Mr Bolton faced “difficult decisions” about his future.

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The former army officer – Ukip’s fourth leader in just 18 months – was already facing anger within party ranks after he left his wife for Jo Marney, a glamour model 29 years younger his junior.

The crisis escalated after the Mail on Sunday printed a string of texts sent by Ms Marney during a discussion about the royal engagement.

Mr Bolton had spent Saturday at the UKIP Scarborough and Whitby Branch New Year's dinner at The Mayfield in Seamer.

She wrote that Ms Markle, Prince Harry’s “black American” fiancee, will “taint” the Royal Family with “her seed” and pave the way for a “black king”.

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She also said she would never have sex with “a negro” because they are “ugly”.

Ms Marney, 25, said: “The opinions I expressed were deliberately exaggerated in order to make a point and have, to an extent, been taken out of context.

"Yet I fully recognise the offence they have caused.”

Judgement ‘deeply flawed’ Mr Bolton – who had been accused of covering up his new relationship during the leadership contest – faced demands to step down to limit the damage to the party.

He added: “It appears we are now seeing Ukip resources, which are at best scant, being used to defend Henry’s private life.”

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A former Ukip leadership candidate, Ben Walker, also called for his resignation, accusing him of having “deeply flawed judgement”.

UKIP suffered a blow in Scarborough recently when its five borough councillors all resigned from the party.

In last year's county elections then UKIP councillor Sam Cross lost his Filey seat to the Conservatives,