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| British Party That Stresses Values Faces a Sex Scandal | |
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| LONDON — The U.K. Independence Party has positioned itself as the defender of traditional British habits and values. Appropriately, perhaps, it now finds itself in the middle of its first sex scandal. | LONDON — The U.K. Independence Party has positioned itself as the defender of traditional British habits and values. Appropriately, perhaps, it now finds itself in the middle of its first sex scandal. |
| Complications abound, but the essence is simple: A senior party official, Roger Bird, has been accused of sexually harassing a woman who sought to be a parliamentary candidate — putting pressure on her to sleep with him to get ahead in the party, which is better known as UKIP. | Complications abound, but the essence is simple: A senior party official, Roger Bird, has been accused of sexually harassing a woman who sought to be a parliamentary candidate — putting pressure on her to sleep with him to get ahead in the party, which is better known as UKIP. |
| Sex scandals are a long political tradition in Britain, but UKIP is wooing voters who believe that the old politics have led Britain into both the European Union and an economic dead end, with British identity under threat from uncontrolled immigration from poorer states in the bloc. | Sex scandals are a long political tradition in Britain, but UKIP is wooing voters who believe that the old politics have led Britain into both the European Union and an economic dead end, with British identity under threat from uncontrolled immigration from poorer states in the bloc. |
| The woman, Natasha Bolter, 39, seemed a great prize for the party — female, young, of mixed race and a defector from the Labour Party. She was a visible riposte to the notion that UKIP is made up of disgruntled older white men from the shires who are afraid of immigrants. | The woman, Natasha Bolter, 39, seemed a great prize for the party — female, young, of mixed race and a defector from the Labour Party. She was a visible riposte to the notion that UKIP is made up of disgruntled older white men from the shires who are afraid of immigrants. |
| Ms. Bolter said that Mr. Bird, 41, the party’s general secretary, had interviewed her as a prospective parliamentary candidate in late September, then invited her to have dinner. He propositioned her, she said, but he accepted her refusal “like a gentleman.” | Ms. Bolter said that Mr. Bird, 41, the party’s general secretary, had interviewed her as a prospective parliamentary candidate in late September, then invited her to have dinner. He propositioned her, she said, but he accepted her refusal “like a gentleman.” |
| Still, she said in her complaint to the party and then publicly, initially to The Times of London this week and then to the BBC, that speaking out had damaged her life and career. “If I had slept with him, I would probably have had an easier time in UKIP,” she said. She has quit the party, although she was seen as a front-runner to contest a seat regarded as winnable by the party, in South Basildon, Essex. | Still, she said in her complaint to the party and then publicly, initially to The Times of London this week and then to the BBC, that speaking out had damaged her life and career. “If I had slept with him, I would probably have had an easier time in UKIP,” she said. She has quit the party, although she was seen as a front-runner to contest a seat regarded as winnable by the party, in South Basildon, Essex. |
| The party promptly suspended Mr. Bird this week pending an investigation by an outside firm, saying that it “will not tolerate impropriety of any kind amongst its staff.” | The party promptly suspended Mr. Bird this week pending an investigation by an outside firm, saying that it “will not tolerate impropriety of any kind amongst its staff.” |
| Mr. Bird publicly denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying that he and Ms. Bolter had a “consensual relationship.” He released affectionate text messages from Ms. Bolter, including one saying: “I love u bird and wish u let me look after u. Hope u feel better xx.” Another said, “But I love u and miss u and think u r sort of perfect.” | Mr. Bird publicly denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying that he and Ms. Bolter had a “consensual relationship.” He released affectionate text messages from Ms. Bolter, including one saying: “I love u bird and wish u let me look after u. Hope u feel better xx.” Another said, “But I love u and miss u and think u r sort of perfect.” |
| But according to Mr. Bird, their relationship later cooled, and on Nov. 6 she sent him a text that read: “U r not coming back and accordingly my life will go back to a meaningless void and it was chance that I met u. But I didn’t invent u — u were real.” | But according to Mr. Bird, their relationship later cooled, and on Nov. 6 she sent him a text that read: “U r not coming back and accordingly my life will go back to a meaningless void and it was chance that I met u. But I didn’t invent u — u were real.” |
| In an interview with the BBC program “Newsnight” on Tuesday, Ms. Bolter acknowledged that she had sent Mr. Bird text messages but said that they were friendly and affectionate, nothing more, and that “I did not sleep with Roger Bird.” She decided to go public, she said, “because there’s so much pressure on women to maybe sleep with somebody that they don’t want to in order to get into a job because that’s the pressure they’re under.” | In an interview with the BBC program “Newsnight” on Tuesday, Ms. Bolter acknowledged that she had sent Mr. Bird text messages but said that they were friendly and affectionate, nothing more, and that “I did not sleep with Roger Bird.” She decided to go public, she said, “because there’s so much pressure on women to maybe sleep with somebody that they don’t want to in order to get into a job because that’s the pressure they’re under.” |
| Mr. Bird, a former Conservative Party city councilor who joined UKIP in 2009, said he was wrongly accused. “I have done nothing wrong. I am a single man, she is also single, we are both single people who conducted a consensual relationship outside the office,” he said. “I’m very sorry that a story like this should have arisen because it detracts from our central messages.” | Mr. Bird, a former Conservative Party city councilor who joined UKIP in 2009, said he was wrongly accused. “I have done nothing wrong. I am a single man, she is also single, we are both single people who conducted a consensual relationship outside the office,” he said. “I’m very sorry that a story like this should have arisen because it detracts from our central messages.” |
| That, of course, is the problem, because the scandal seems to underscore UKIP’s image as frivolous, just as the party and its leader, Nigel Farage, have won their first two seats in Parliament and appear to be on course to do well in May elections. | That, of course, is the problem, because the scandal seems to underscore UKIP’s image as frivolous, just as the party and its leader, Nigel Farage, have won their first two seats in Parliament and appear to be on course to do well in May elections. |
| A cartoon in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday showed two members of UKIP discussing the scandal, with one saying to the other, “It all sounds much too French for my liking.” | A cartoon in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday showed two members of UKIP discussing the scandal, with one saying to the other, “It all sounds much too French for my liking.” |
| Mr. Farage himself was mocked last week after he blamed immigration for his failure to show up to a political meeting in Port Talbot, Wales. “It took me six hours and 15 minutes in the car,” he later said. “That has nothing to do with professionalism. What it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof, chiefly because of open-door immigration, and the fact the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be.” | Mr. Farage himself was mocked last week after he blamed immigration for his failure to show up to a political meeting in Port Talbot, Wales. “It took me six hours and 15 minutes in the car,” he later said. “That has nothing to do with professionalism. What it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof, chiefly because of open-door immigration, and the fact the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be.” |
| His comments were leapt upon by Labour’s shadow Welsh secretary, Owen Smith, who said, “It is clearly absurd to suggest heavy traffic on the M4 is caused by immigration, but through the laughter at his silly comments you can hear UKIP’s dog-whistle politics of division.” | His comments were leapt upon by Labour’s shadow Welsh secretary, Owen Smith, who said, “It is clearly absurd to suggest heavy traffic on the M4 is caused by immigration, but through the laughter at his silly comments you can hear UKIP’s dog-whistle politics of division.” |