FORMER UKIP LEADER Henry Bolton has quit the party just days after being ousted as leader.
Bolton, aged 54, faced criticism in early January after it emerged that his 25-year-old girlfriend made racist remarks about Prince Harry’s fiancée Meghan Markle and the residents of Grenfell tower.
Jo Marney wrote texts saying that “black American” Markle would “taint the royal family”, and her marriage to Prince Harry would pave the way for a “black king”.
She also described Grenfell Tower, where 71 people died in a fire last June, as “a nest of illegal immigrants”.
Ukip members backed a motion of no confidence in Bolton at an extraordinary general meeting in Birmingham on Saturday, five months after he won a leadership contest.
The party announced that he is no longer a member after he appeared alongside former model Marney on ITV’s This morning programme today.
Speaking on the programme the couple denied they were “private racists”. “I absolutely do not believe that these comments reflect Jo’s core beliefs. They are appalling language,” Bolton said.
The politician was also confronted with a lengthy statement from his wife of 11 years, Tatiana Smurova-Bolton, whom he left just before Christmas.
“Rather than trying to protect the privacy of the children he hurt so badly, my still-husband has given countless interviews proclaiming his feelings for his lover while still being legally married,” the statement said.
I’ve supported my husband through the 11 years of us being together in good times but also bad when we had no job or money. Now, me and my family have been abandoned and quickly forgotten. He hasn’t found the time to visit his children, who haven’t seen him for two months.
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