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The 2019 UK Independence Party leadership election took place following the departure on 2 June of Gerard Batten from the leadership of the UK Independence Party. The result was announced on 10 August 2019, [1] with Richard Braine being elected to lead the party. This was the party's fifth leadership election in three years. Braine resigned just two months later, triggering a sixth leadership election.
On 6 May 2019, and following media reports that Batten was to step down as leader on 2 June, he said that his election in April 2018 was for a twelve-month period, and that the party's National Executive Committee had asked him to remain in office until after the European elections in May 2019. [2]
Former leader Nigel Farage was one of a number of senior party figures to leave during Batten's leadership over Batten's association with far-right activist Tommy Robinson. [3] In April 2019, Farage launched the rival Brexit Party. [4] UKIP won 24 MEPs in the 2014 European Parliament election, but 21 had left the party by the May 2019 European elections, with most defecting to The Brexit Party. It lost all three remaining MEPs, falling to 3.3% of the vote. [5]
Freddy Vachha, UKIP London Regional chairman and present General Secretary, announced his intention to run on 6 May. [6]
Mike Hookem, the party's former Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber, resigned as deputy leader and announced that he would run for the leadership on 24 May, criticising Batten for associating the party with the far-right. [7]
Gareth Bennett, a member for the National Assembly for Wales for UKIP, announced his candidacy on 3 June. [8] His policy platform included national identity cards and a possible referendum on bringing back the death penalty. [8] [9] On 11 July, he announced his withdrawal from the race and his support for Ben Walker's bid for the leadership. [10]
Walker, a former Parliamentary candidate, member of the UKIP NEC and branch chairman, announced his candidacy on 6 June. [11]
Richard Braine, chairman of UKIP West London, and formerly a UKIP Parliamentary candidate for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (2017), and EU Parliamentary candidate for the London Region (2019),[ citation needed ] also stood.
Helena Windsor, the chairman of the UKIP Surrey Branch and county councillor for Godstone from 2013 to 2017, [12] was a candidate, [13] but withdrew on 17 July, and publicly backed Mike Hookem. [14] [15]
Applications for the party leadership closed on 27 June. Despite having previously said his position as leader "would be untenable" if he lost his seat in the European Parliament, [16] [17] Gerard Batten announced that he would stand in the leadership election, claiming he had "overwhelming support from UKIP members". [18] The party's National Executive Committee blocked him from standing, leaving five candidates up for election. [19] Batten supported Braine instead.
| Candidate | Past and present political roles | Endorsements |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Hookem |
| Helena Windsor |
| Freddy Vachha |
| Stuart Agnew [ citation needed ] |
| Ben Walker |
| Gareth Bennett |
| Richard Braine |
| Gerard Batten [24] |
| Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Richard Braine | 2,935 | 52.9 | ||
| Freddy Vachha | 1,134 | 20.5 | ||
| Ben Walker | 753 | 13.6 | ||
| Mike Hookem | 717 | 13.0 | ||
| Spoilt ballots | 194 | 3.5 | ||
| Total | 5,539 | Turnout | 19.1% | |
The UK Independence Party is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest party representing the UK in the European Parliament. The party is currently led by Neil Hamilton.
Gerard Joseph Batten is a British politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) between 2018 and 2019. He was a founding member of the party in 1993, and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London between 2004 and 2019.
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) held a leadership election in 2009, with ballots closing on 26 November. The election was won by Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch.
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) leadership election of 2010 was triggered on 17 August 2010 with the resignation of the incumbent leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, following difficulties during the 2010 general election campaign, with the result announced on 5 November 2010. Lord Pearson of Rannoch had been leader of the party since the previous leadership election, less than a year earlier. Jeffrey Titford was appointed interim leader during the summer by the UKIP National Executive Committee. Nigel Farage won the election with over 60% of the vote.
Margaret Lucille Jeanne Parker is an English politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region between 2014 and 2019. She was born in Grantham and educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and De Montfort University, where she read Law.
Patrick James O'Flynn is an English journalist and SDP politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2014 to 2019. He was elected for the UK Independence Party but defected to the Social Democratic Party in November 2018. Since 2019 he has written frequently for The Spectator.
Michael Hookem is a British politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019.
Nathan Lee Gill is a British politician, who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March–May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to January 2020.
Steven Marcus Woolfe is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2014 until 2019.
William Milroy Etheridge is an English politician who was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands region. He was elected in 2014 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, but left the party in October 2018 and joined the Libertarian Party. He joined the Brexit Party in 2019 but rejoined UKIP in September 2020.
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament, with significant changes to group membership.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020, and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Caroline Yvonne Jones is a Welsh politician who was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales West from 2016 to 2021.
Gareth John BennettMS is a Welsh politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the Senedd from 2018 to 2019, and was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales Central from 2016 to 2021.
The September 2016 UK Independence Party leadership election was triggered after Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, announced on 4 July 2016, following the Leave result in the UK referendum on EU membership, that he would step down when a new leader had been elected.
The November 2016 UK Independence Party leadership election took place following the announcement on 4 October 2016 by Diane James, the leader-elect of the UK Independence Party, that she would not accept the leadership of the party, despite winning the leadership election 18 days earlier. Nigel Farage, whom James was to succeed after the previous leadership election following his resignation, was selected the next day to serve as interim leader.
The 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election was called after the resignation of Paul Nuttall as leader of the UK Independence Party on 9 June 2017, following the poor performance of the party in the 2017 general election. Former party chairman Steve Crowther was chosen three days later to serve as interim leader.
The 2018 UK Independence Party leadership election was triggered after members voted to remove Henry Bolton as leader of the UK Independence Party at an extraordinary general meeting held in Birmingham on 17 February 2018. It was the fourth UKIP leadership election in eighteen months. Interim leader Gerard Batten was ultimately elected unopposed as the party's new leader.
The 2018 UKIP Wales leadership election was a leadership election to determine the UK Independence Party's next leader in the National Assembly for Wales. The election was held from 18 June to 10 August 2018. The approximately 900 members of the party in Wales were eligible to vote in the election.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the Brexit Party in November 2018, endorsing hard Euroscepticism, and was renamed on 6 January 2021 after Brexit, becoming primarily an anti-lockdown party. The party was founded by Nigel Farage and Catherine Blaiklock with the stated purpose of advocating for Brexit. Before the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU), the party had 23 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Its largest electoral success was winning 29 seats and the largest share of the national vote in the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.
2019 United Kingdom party leadership elections | ||
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