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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/23/ukip-suzanne-evans-suspended-disloyalty-nigel-farage
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Ukip suspends Suzanne Evans for disloyalty | Ukip suspends Suzanne Evans for disloyalty |
| (5 months later) | |
| Ukip has suspended one of its highest profile politicians, Suzanne Evans, for six months over suspected disloyalty to the party. | Ukip has suspended one of its highest profile politicians, Suzanne Evans, for six months over suspected disloyalty to the party. |
| Her suspension by the party’s disciplinary committee, allegedly for a number of specific complaints, comes just weeks after she was sacked as deputy chairwoman and then welfare spokeswoman. | Her suspension by the party’s disciplinary committee, allegedly for a number of specific complaints, comes just weeks after she was sacked as deputy chairwoman and then welfare spokeswoman. |
| Evans mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge against the suspension, but some of her allies have now launched a petition to get the suspension overturned. | Evans mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge against the suspension, but some of her allies have now launched a petition to get the suspension overturned. |
| Patrick O’Flynn, a Ukip MEP and former communications chief for Farage, led the efforts to get her reinstated. | Patrick O’Flynn, a Ukip MEP and former communications chief for Farage, led the efforts to get her reinstated. |
| She was subject to the disciplinary action for speaking out against a Ukip candidate and for presenting herself as a party spokesman without authority. | She was subject to the disciplinary action for speaking out against a Ukip candidate and for presenting herself as a party spokesman without authority. |
| Her lawyers said the suspension was disproportionate as it stopped her running in the London assembly elections in May. | Her lawyers said the suspension was disproportionate as it stopped her running in the London assembly elections in May. |
| But a judge refused to grant an injunction that would have prevented the suspension taking effect until after the assembly nominations closed at the end of March. | But a judge refused to grant an injunction that would have prevented the suspension taking effect until after the assembly nominations closed at the end of March. |
| Ukip has been beset by internal conflict since the general election, with Farage and his allies being suspicious of Evans, O’Flynn and the party’s only MP, Douglas Carswell. | Ukip has been beset by internal conflict since the general election, with Farage and his allies being suspicious of Evans, O’Flynn and the party’s only MP, Douglas Carswell. |
| Evans was once a favourite of Farage, who let her write the party’s 2015 manifesto and briefly recommended her as interim leader until he “unresigned” days later. | Evans was once a favourite of Farage, who let her write the party’s 2015 manifesto and briefly recommended her as interim leader until he “unresigned” days later. |
| However, she has since incurred his displeasure because his allies suspected she was part of a group planning a coup against his leadership, something she and others have strongly denied. | However, she has since incurred his displeasure because his allies suspected she was part of a group planning a coup against his leadership, something she and others have strongly denied. |
| Farage described Evans’s suspension as unfortunate but did not go into the reasons for the action. | Farage described Evans’s suspension as unfortunate but did not go into the reasons for the action. |
| “She is somebody who appeared front-facing for the party, gave Ukip a good look in many ways,” he told BBC News. “Sometimes people fall out with their own parties and sometimes they say and do things that perhaps they shouldn’t.” | “She is somebody who appeared front-facing for the party, gave Ukip a good look in many ways,” he told BBC News. “Sometimes people fall out with their own parties and sometimes they say and do things that perhaps they shouldn’t.” |
| Farage told Sky News he had no part in the suspension but it was for a “long, long series of things” and that she had been “getting increasingly personal herself about this and her relationship with me and doing it consistently since May”. | Farage told Sky News he had no part in the suspension but it was for a “long, long series of things” and that she had been “getting increasingly personal herself about this and her relationship with me and doing it consistently since May”. |
| “Sometimes in life you just get into a bad place and can’t get yourself out of that. I’ve watched as she’s gone from being a popular figure in Ukip to become a very unpopular figure by constantly criticising, not just the leader, but the party [and] its direction. | “Sometimes in life you just get into a bad place and can’t get yourself out of that. I’ve watched as she’s gone from being a popular figure in Ukip to become a very unpopular figure by constantly criticising, not just the leader, but the party [and] its direction. |
| “It’s sad but these things happen: in families we all see it. In life, these things happen.” | “It’s sad but these things happen: in families we all see it. In life, these things happen.” |
| Evans’ request to the high court to stop her suspension claimed it was the result of a vendetta against her and that rules were being abused to stifle her progression. | Evans’ request to the high court to stop her suspension claimed it was the result of a vendetta against her and that rules were being abused to stifle her progression. |
| Evans is seen by the leadership as a supporter of Carswell, who has also displeased Farage in recent months over his support for the Vote Leave campaign in the UK-EU referendum rather than the Leave.EU group run by the Ukip donor Arron Banks. | Evans is seen by the leadership as a supporter of Carswell, who has also displeased Farage in recent months over his support for the Vote Leave campaign in the UK-EU referendum rather than the Leave.EU group run by the Ukip donor Arron Banks. |
| Farage described Carswell as “irrelevant” earlier this month and said he did not care what the MP did. | Farage described Carswell as “irrelevant” earlier this month and said he did not care what the MP did. |