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| Paul Nuttall stands down as Ukip leader after disastrous election result | Paul Nuttall stands down as Ukip leader after disastrous election result |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, has resigned after disastrous election results for his party, whose vote share plummeted to less than 2%. | |
| Nuttall said Ukip would remain “the guard dogs of Brexit” but conceded the party had failed badly. “If I am remembered as the Ukip leader who kept the party on the pitch for the good times that lay ahead, that will be good enough for me,” he said. | Nuttall said Ukip would remain “the guard dogs of Brexit” but conceded the party had failed badly. “If I am remembered as the Ukip leader who kept the party on the pitch for the good times that lay ahead, that will be good enough for me,” he said. |
| “In politics sometimes the tide goes in and sometimes the tide goes out. But for us, although the tide might be out at the moment, I am convinced we will return.” | “In politics sometimes the tide goes in and sometimes the tide goes out. But for us, although the tide might be out at the moment, I am convinced we will return.” |
| Nuttall said he was resigning “with immediate effect” to allow a new leader to be chosen in time for the party’s autumn conference, when he said a “new, rebranded Ukip” would be launched. “I have to admit I never envisaged I would lead the party into three byelections and a general election in the space of six months. I wanted a year to rebrand and build the party’s structures.” | Nuttall said he was resigning “with immediate effect” to allow a new leader to be chosen in time for the party’s autumn conference, when he said a “new, rebranded Ukip” would be launched. “I have to admit I never envisaged I would lead the party into three byelections and a general election in the space of six months. I wanted a year to rebrand and build the party’s structures.” |
| The MEP said Ukip was more relevant than ever given the result and said he believed the party’s manifesto, which included a proposal to ban Muslim women from wearing burqas, would be seen as ahead of its time on issues such as an English parliament. | The MEP said Ukip was more relevant than ever given the result and said he believed the party’s manifesto, which included a proposal to ban Muslim women from wearing burqas, would be seen as ahead of its time on issues such as an English parliament. |
| “Ukip are more now than ever the guard dogs of Brexit and the prime minister must know that if they begin to backtrack or barter things away they will be punished at the ballot box,” he said. “We are in effect the country’s insurance policy.” | “Ukip are more now than ever the guard dogs of Brexit and the prime minister must know that if they begin to backtrack or barter things away they will be punished at the ballot box,” he said. “We are in effect the country’s insurance policy.” |
| Nuttall stood in Boston and Skegness, where nearly three-quarters of the constituency voted to leave in the EU referendum, but received just 3,308 votes, a fall of 26 percentage points on 2015. The seat was held by the Conservative candidate, Matt Warman. | Nuttall stood in Boston and Skegness, where nearly three-quarters of the constituency voted to leave in the EU referendum, but received just 3,308 votes, a fall of 26 percentage points on 2015. The seat was held by the Conservative candidate, Matt Warman. |
| Ukip’s general secretary, Jonathan Arnott, told the Guardian he would also resign after the party’s disastrous performance in the general election. Arnott, the MEP for the north-east of England, said he was dismayed that Ukip “victimised and demonised” Muslims in its rebranded integration policy. | |
| He disagreed with Ukip’s burqa ban policy and thought the party’s stance on issues such as FGM were “crass and ill-conceived” and delivered in a way that was “clumsy and blundering”. Arnott is to resign after the party’s national executive committee meeting on Monday but is expected to announce his decision in the next two days. | |
| It is understood that Arnott, a former maths teacher and junior chess champion, was offered the Hartlepool seat by the party’s national executive committee, despite local members choosing its 2015 candidate Phil Broughton. But Arnott is believed to have turned down the offer because he fundamentally disagreed with the party’s most divisive manifesto pledges. | |
| In his resignation statement, Arnott said Nuttall had been “badly let down” by his most senior advisers. He said the party was in a “last-chance saloon” and would be doomed to failure unless it dropped what he described as its “anti-Islam messages”. | |
| Arnott said: “The people pushing such an agenda need to reflect on the party’s future. They need to stop making it difficult – impossible, even – for many people to vote Ukip. | |
| “They need to understand that Theresa May has imperilled Brexit and that their actions are utterly corrosive not just to the party’s cause but also to the cause of regaining our freedom from the European Union. | |
| “Ukip is now in a last-chance saloon, but it is needed more than ever. This election result is the last wake-up call that they will ever get.” | |
| Ukip is believed to have lost about £100,000 in deposits, failing to secure more than 5% of the vote in hundreds of seats. | Ukip is believed to have lost about £100,000 in deposits, failing to secure more than 5% of the vote in hundreds of seats. |
| In Clacton in Essex, the party slumped from a vote of 19,642 in 2015 for Douglas Carswell to 3,347 for Paul Oakley, the candidate who replaced him after he quit the party. The Conservative candidate, Giles Watling, won the seat easily. | In Clacton in Essex, the party slumped from a vote of 19,642 in 2015 for Douglas Carswell to 3,347 for Paul Oakley, the candidate who replaced him after he quit the party. The Conservative candidate, Giles Watling, won the seat easily. |
| Nuttall’s resignation could herald the return of the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who hinted earlier in the night he was tempted by a return to frontline politics. | Nuttall’s resignation could herald the return of the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who hinted earlier in the night he was tempted by a return to frontline politics. |
| An excellent speech by @paulnuttallukip. Very sorry he is standing down. | An excellent speech by @paulnuttallukip. Very sorry he is standing down. |
| “Ultimately, the shock we are seeing here tonight is all about personality,” Farage said, earlier in the night. “Ukip voters want somebody they think is speaking for them. They want somebody who is for change.” | “Ultimately, the shock we are seeing here tonight is all about personality,” Farage said, earlier in the night. “Ukip voters want somebody they think is speaking for them. They want somebody who is for change.” |