Bongo-bongo land, Robert Kilroy-Silk and a racist model – surely Ukip are the real monster raving loony party
The party David Cameron once claimed was full of ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists’ has been through more than its fair share of controversy even before Henry Bolton's scandal
HENRY Bolton’s disastrous tenure as leader is just the latest in a catalogue of Ukip catastrophes – all of which begs the question ‘how are they still going’?
From racist outbursts, sex scandals and brawling in the European Parliament to blaming floods on gay marriage and a revolving door on the leader’s office, the party David Cameron once claimed was full of ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists’ has been through more than its fair share of controversy.
As it risks imploding once again due to Mr Bolton’s failure to step down over the row about his relationship with model Jo Marney, we run down the lowlights from a bizarre few years for the anti-EU party:
Nov 2004: That time Kilroy ran to be leader
Remarkably, chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk was recruited by Ukip in 2004, was elected an MEP the same year, tried to become its leader, failed, then left and started his own party called Veritas – all in the space of nine months.
May 2010: Ukip’s ‘drivel’ manifesto
The party’s offering to the electorate in 2010 contained such wheezes as “a return to proper dress for theatres”, compulsory uniforms for taxi drivers, making the Circle Line on the London Underground an actual circle again, and restoring imperial measurements.
Nigel Farage later disowned the entire thing, calling it "drivel" and "nonsense", although it was revealed he did actually write the foreword to it.
May 2013: Farage’s Edinburgh lock-in
Nigel Farage’s ill-fated excursion to Scotland saw his attempt to lend support to Ukip’s candidate in the Aberdeen Donside by-election end with him trapped in a pub with a baying mob outside the door.
Knowing Mr Farage’s penchant for a pint there were worse places for him to be locked in, but after police safely secured his escape he conspicuously failed to venture north of the border again
Sep 2013: Good old ‘Godders’
The controversial ex-MEP Godfrey Bloom became synonymous with Ukip’s non-politically correct views, landing himself in hot water again and again, including by saying foreign aid should not go to "bongo-bongo land".
At a Ukip event he “joked” that a room debating women in politics was "full of sluts" who should clean behind the fridge more.
He also clomped journalist Michael Crick round the head with a party brochure for asking a question he didn’t like, before eventually quitting Ukip, saying it was “too politically correct” for him.
Jan 2014: An act of God?
Ukip councillor David Silvester blamed storms and heavy floods across Britain on the Government's decision to legalise gay marriage.
In a letter to his local paper he accused David Cameron of acting "arrogantly against the Gospel", leading to his suspension by the party.
May 2014: The ‘diversity’ carnival
A day which will long live in infamy, the party’s disastrous attempt to show they *did not* have a race problem ended up with crowds of protesters in Croydon telling them they were indeed racist.
The steel band booked by Winston McKenzie, the flamboyant ex-kipper, refused to play, and a wise Nigel Farage decided it was best not to turn up at all.
Oct 2014: The 'Ukip Calypso'
The former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read decided it would be a good idea to release a charity single praising Nigel Farage, but unsurprisingly it became embroiled in a racism row.
He was blasted for singing with a Caribbean accent, to which he replied "you can't sing a calypso with a Surrey accent", and for the line “the leaders committed a cardinal sin / open the borders let them all come in / illegal immigrants in every town / stand up and be counted Blair and Brown".
It did make it to number 44 in the charts, but the Red Cross refused to accept any of the profits from it.
Dec 2014: ‘A gay donkey tried to rape my horse’
The colourful former leadership candidate John Rees-Evans made a remarkable claim when a fellow Ukipper said “some homosexuals prefer sex with animals”.
He said: “Actually, I’ve witnessed that. I’ve got a horse and it was there in the field. And a donkey came up... which was male, and I’m afraid tried to rape my horse.”
Mr Evans, who said at the same event he urinates in bottles to reduce his carbon footprint, said his stallion had bitten the donkey in defence.
Dec 2014: Gridlock on the M4
In one of several Farage/driving disasters the then-leader blamed his late arrival at an event in Wales because of immigration.
In bizarre comments he said the journey took twice the amount of time it should because “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”.
Mar 2015: The tide waits for no kipper
A Ukip candidate called Sam Gould had to be hauled to safety by the party’s press chief officer after writing “I love Nige” in the sand on Margate beach and then getting caught by the incoming tide
An unrepentant Mr Gould said afterwards that it made Mr Farage “chuckle and smile”, while press man Gawain Towler said it was “all in a day’s work”, adding: “I’m always happy to pull our candidates out of the drink.”
Apr 2015: Sausage roll bribes
Kim Rose was investigated by police over claims he had tried to bribe voters into backing him in Southampton back in 2015, after he handed out free sausage rolls at a campaign event with snooker legend Jimmy White.
He was cleared of the allegations, which Nigel Farage called "utter nonsense", but Mr Rose said he was keeping clear of baked goods in future, saying: “If I see a bakery I walk the other way.”
May 2015: Farage’s seventh failure
Despite being elected to the European Parliament several times, Nigel Farage has failed on no less than seven occasions to become an MP, a fact his critics ceaselessly remind him of.
The last two attempts were mired in controversy, after his attempt to dethrone the Speaker John Bercow saw him barely escape death in a light aircraft crash on polling day, and in 2015 was forced to compete with comedian Al Murray for the spotlight, before losing once again to the Tories.
Jan 2016: The assassination attempt that never was
When the wheel came off Nigel Farage's Volvo V70 while he was driving on a motorway he suspected foul play, going as far as to suggest it had been an attempt on his life.
But after claiming mechanics told him the nuts had been deliberately unscrewed, he later admitted he had made a "terrible, terrible mistake", and no further action was taken.
Oct 2016: Diane James’ 18-day reign
If Mr Bolton does get forced out as Ukip leader he can take comfort from the fact he has still been in post for 100 days longer than Diane James.
Judging by her infamous awkward kiss from Farage on stage the MEP clearly never wanted the leadership in the first place, and stood down less than three weeks in saying she could not "continue to bang her head against a brick wall" after failing to break up the party's "old guard".
Oct 2016: The scuffle in Strasbourg
The party’s MEPs took a break from fighting the EU and started fighting among themselves in October 2016, which got so serious Steven Woolfe was hospitalised with a serious brain injury.
Suspicion fell on the aptly-named Mike Hookem, but he denied hitting his former colleague during the fracas in Strasbourg, instead calling it “handbags at dawn”.
Dec 2016: Paul Nuttall’s suspicious CV
The former leader ran into trouble when a copy of his CV was found on LinkedIn, which included some surprising claims.
One of which was that he was a professional footballer for Tranmere Rovers, and another was that he had a PHD in history from Liverpool Hope University. Neither of which were true.
Apr 2017: Beekeepers and burqas
The flagship Ukip policy at the 2017 election was the ban on the burqa, which they said prevented the “intake of essential Vitamin D”.
It led to much mockery – with then-leader Paul Nuttall having to field multiple questions about whether the “face-covering” policy covered beekeepers, nuns, clowns, people wearing huge sunglasses, Christian brides on their wedding day, fireman running into burning buildings etc etc.
The calamitous press conference ended with Mr Nuttall locking himself in a room and refusing to say if he would fight a seat at the Election. He did, and he lost.
Oct 2017: Bolton the badger botherer
Before the Jo Marney scandal the only time Mr Bolton hit the headlines as leader was a row over whether he had really meant it when he claimed he could catch and kill a badger with his “bare hands”.
He would no doubt be happy if that was the only controversy he created in the role.
Jan 2018: Mither over Ms Marney
Henry Bolton was revealed by The Sun to have ditched his wife and shacked up with a glamour model more than 25 years younger than him, who is then found to have posted a host of vile views online.
He is forced to break it off with her, but they are then spotted having drinks and dinner together two days later, followed by the party’s NEC unanimously passing a vote of no confidence in him. He refuses to resign.