Nigel Farage backs embattled UKIP leader Henry Bolton after racism scandal

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February 15, 2018 9:22 PM

Bolton is under intense pressure to quit following a scandal involving racist text messages sent by his girlfriend.

Nigel Farage has come out in support of embattled UKIP leader Henry Bolton.

UKIP is "collapsing," Farage told The Telegraph, throwing his support behind Bolton ahead of a party meeting on the leader's future on Saturday.

Bolton has faced intense pressure to quit over his relationship with model Jo Marney, who was revealed to have sent racist text messages. More than half his top team quit in an effort to force him to resign, but he refused — instead proposing sweeping changes to UKIP's constitution.

The dispute comes while UKIP is in a precarious position. The anti-European party's public support has plummeted since the 2016 Brexit referendum, and it is losing around 1,000 members a month. Multiple leaders have come and gone in that time; if Bolton is ousted, the party will be in search of its seventh leader within two years.

On Saturday, Bolton will appear before an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of UKIP activists, The Huffington Post reports.

This story is developing...

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