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Ukip leader's girlfriend suspended after 'racist' Meghan Markle remarks Ukip leader urged to quit over girlfriend's 'racist' Meghan Markle remarks
(about 2 hours later)
The girlfriend of the Ukip leader, Henry Bolton, has been suspended from the party after reportedly making racist remarks about Meghan Markle. The Ukip leader, Henry Bolton, should quit his post after his girlfriend was suspended from the party for a reported barrage of racist remarks including ones about Prince Harry’s fiancee, Meghan Markle, senior figures from the party have said.
Jo Marney, 25, sent a series of messages to a friend in which she made highly offensive comments about Prince Harry’s fiancee and black people, according to the Mail on Sunday. Bolton, who has been leader of the party for less than four months, came under increasing pressure to resign on Sunday after it was revealed his girlfriend, Jo Marney, 25, had sent a series of messages to a friend in which she made the highly offensive comments.
In a statement to the paper, Marney said she apologised “unreservedly” for the “shocking language” used in the messages, but said they had been taken out of context. The party’s chair, Paul Oakden, said Bolton now found himself with a difficult decision to make and was expected to decide on Sunday what to do to “help remedy the situation”.
Bolton, 54, whose relationship with Marney is under investigation by the party, said on Sunday she had been suspended “immediately upon us receiving this information”. “I think it is very clear that Henry is increasingly in a position where he’s got some difficult decisions to make,” he told BBC’s Sunday Politics, saying the party needed to be “behind our leader 100% in taking that battle forward”.
The Ukip leader sent the message in reply to a young party member who urged him to call publicly for Marney to have her membership removed. The party’s national executive committee will meet next Sunday to decide on the next steps, unless Bolton should decide to quit before that meeting. “Whether or not the party decides it is willing to give that support to Henry is for the party to decide,” Oakden said.
“She has to go or he and Ukip are doomed if we let this behaviour happen in the party,” the activist said. The Ukip MEP Bill Etheridge, an influential figure in the party’s libertarian faction, said Bolton should leave now. “I am calling for Henry Bolton to resign as Ukip leader,” he tweeted. “A quick resignation is now essential to allow the party to regroup and campaign properly for Brexit.”
Peter Whittle, the leader of Ukip’s delegation in the London assembly, also called for Marney to be “expelled altogether” for the “disgraceful remarks”. Earlier on Sunday, the Ukip leadership candidate Ben Walker also called for Bolton to resign, accusing him of having “deeply flawed judgment”.
Meanwhile, the former Ukip leadership candidate Ben Walker called for Bolton to resign, accusing him of having “deeply flawed judgment”. Bolton’s relationship with Marney, for whom he left his wife, is already under investigation by party officials. Marney said she apologised “unreservedly” for the “shocking language” used in the messages, reported by the Mail on Sunday, but said they had been taken out of context.
The party chairman, Paul Oakden, said he decided to suspend Marney’s party membership immediately after he was made aware of the messages. “Ukip does not, has not and never will condone racism,” he told the Mail on Sunday. Peter Whittle, the leader of Ukip’s delegation in the London assembly, called for Marney to be “expelled altogether” for the “disgraceful remarks”.
The report of Marney’s use of highly offensive language about people from different ethnic backgrounds came as Bolton faces an investigation into his private life by senior party officials. Oakden said he decided to suspend Marney’s party membership immediately after he was made aware of the messages. “Ukip does not, has not and never will condone racism,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
Bolton left his wife Tatiana, 42, who gave birth to their second daughter at London’s St Pancras station in 2016 after going into labour on a train, before his relationship with Marney became public in early January. Bolton left his wife Tatiana, 42, before his relationship with Marney became public in early January.
The Ukip leader confirmed that he had had a “change in my relationship status” in recent weeks, although he denied reports that he had been involved in “a clandestine affair with a young lady who happens also to be a member of Ukip”. The Ukip leader confirmed that he had had a “change in my relationship status” in recent weeks and said he had already made clear on social media that he had recently been spending time “with somebody who has become increasingly important to me”.
He said he had already made clear on social media that he had recently been spending time “with somebody who has become increasingly important to me”. Should Bolton resign, the party would need to seek its fourth leader since mid-2016, when Nigel Farage resigned after the EU referendum.
On Sunday, he was accused on Twitter of being in Marney’s company when he appeared on television in mid-October. He tweeted: “Utterly false! Photo taken by Gawain Towler (Ukip communications official). The woman just in shot is a BBC staffer.” Bolton, a relative unknown, replaced Paul Nuttall, who left the role after the party lost swathes of council seats and failed to make any headway in the 2017 election. His predecessor Diana James quit after just 18 days in the role.
In a letter to members, Oakden said the party’s national executive committee ruling body had agreed to discuss the leader’s private life at a special meeting in January.In a letter to members, Oakden said the party’s national executive committee ruling body had agreed to discuss the leader’s private life at a special meeting in January.
On Sunday, a teenage activist called on Bolton to back calls for Marney to be expelled from Ukip.On Sunday, a teenage activist called on Bolton to back calls for Marney to be expelled from Ukip.
He tweeted: “If Henry Bolton truly cares about Ukip he will publicly call for Jo Marney’s removal from the party – her words were blatantly racist and there should be no room for that in Ukip.He tweeted: “If Henry Bolton truly cares about Ukip he will publicly call for Jo Marney’s removal from the party – her words were blatantly racist and there should be no room for that in Ukip.
“Also it would be hypocritical to allow her to stay … because he said in the leadership election he was the candidate against racism and Nazis so she has to go or he and Ukip are doomed if we let this behaviour happen in the party.”“Also it would be hypocritical to allow her to stay … because he said in the leadership election he was the candidate against racism and Nazis so she has to go or he and Ukip are doomed if we let this behaviour happen in the party.”
Bolton tweeted in reply: “Jo was suspended immediately upon us receiving this information.”Bolton tweeted in reply: “Jo was suspended immediately upon us receiving this information.”
Marney said in a statement: “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.”Marney said in a statement: “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.”
On her Twitter profile, Marney describes herself as a model, actor and journalist, as well as a Brexiteer.
Bolton was elected Ukip leader last September.