This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/paul-nuttall-stands-down-as-ukip-leader-after-disastrous-election-result

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
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%. Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, has resigned immediately after a disastrous election result for his party, which saw their vote share plummet 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, who finished a distant third in the Boston and Skegness seat he had contested, gaining just 3,300 votes, said Ukip would remain “the guard dogs of Brexit”.
But he accepted it was a difficult moment for the party. “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. Nuttall appeared to have deleted his official Ukip Twitter and Facebook accounts after his resignation.
“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.” The new leader will be Ukip’s third in just a year, and there was immediate speculation that Farage, still the party’s best-known figure, who opted not to stand in this election, could return.
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. Bill Etheridge, one of Ukip’s MEPs, who stood in the Dudley North constituency on Thursday, getting just over 2,000 votes, said it was time for Farage to take over the leadership yet again.
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. “I desperately want Nigel to return,” Etheridge said. “If he doesn’t I shall consider standing myself to try to keep a Farage legacy alive in Ukip.” He stressed that this would be a last resort, and he wanted Farage to stand again.
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. Farage, who said he was “very sorry” to see Nutall go, gave no clues as to his plans, but said Ukip would return.
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. “If the result of this tonight is that we finish up without a government with a clear majority pushing for Brexit, then a huge gap opens in the political landscape for Ukip once again,” he said.
In the wake of the Brexit vote and the party’s primary objective now over, Nuttall had sought to reposition Ukip through what he styled an “integration agenda” aimed at the Muslim community, including a ban on the wearing of full-face veils in public.
This was coupled with a promise to boost the numbers of police and prison officers and to seek to tackle terrorism through measures Nuttall said could include the mass internment of terrorism suspects.
However, it did not break through to voters, and has caused some disquiet within Ukip. The party’s general secretary, Jonathan Arnott, said he would also resign after the party’s disastrous performance.
Arnott, an MEP for the north-east of England, said he was dismayed that Ukip “victimised and demonised” Muslims in its rebranded integration policy.
It is understood that Arnott, a former maths teacher, 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”.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.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.“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 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.
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.
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.” 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 slumped disastrously in all its target 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 Carswell after he quit the party. The Conservative candidate, Giles Watling, won the seat easily.
Thanet South, where Farage had considered standing, saw the eventual Ukip candidate, Stuart Piper, win just 6% of the total vote.