Henry Bolton

Henry David Bolton (born 2 March 1963) is a former British politician who was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 29 September 2017 to 17 February 2018.

He served in the British Army, attaining the rank of lance corporal, and went on to reach the rank of captain following his transfer to the Territorial Army from the Regular Army.

Bolton has also served as a police officer.

Bolton was born in Nairobi, British Kenya, on 2 March 1963.

He served in the Royal Hussars from 1979 to 1990, rising to the rank of lance-corporal.

After leaving the regular army in 1990, for eight years he was a police constable in the Thames Valley Police, during which time he received an award for outstanding bravery.

While serving in the police, Bolton joined the part-time Territorial Army, and in 1992, gained a commission in its Wessex Regiment.

Two years later, he was promoted to captain.

He left the Thames Valley Police in 1998 to take on overseas security and policing roles, including work for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in hostile environments, including Afghanistan.

Following the disbanding of the Wessex Regiment, Bolton served part-time in the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Royal Rifle Volunteers, before leaving the Territorial Army in 2000.

Bolton stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2005 general election for the seat of Runnymede and Weybridge in Surrey, but in 2014 joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP), saying that he felt more comfortable in a party that said what it thought.

Bolton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours "for services to international security and stabilisation" following his role as a Stabilisation Team Leader for the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

In 2015, he stood as a UKIP candidate for Shepway District Council.

Bolton was the UKIP candidate in the 2016 election for Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, finishing in second place to the Conservative candidate Matthew Scott.

Bolton became UKIP leader after winning the party's 2017 leadership election, and gave himself the additional role of Defence spokesman in January 2018.

In 2017, Bolton was vice chairman of the Remembrance Line Association heritage group and a founding member of the Folkestone Heritage, Arts and Tourism Forum.

In July 2017, Bolton declared that he was standing in UKIP's forthcoming leadership election.

He began as a relative unknown in a field of eleven candidates; however, his standing improved as other candidates withdrew, and he received the endorsements of four of the party's MEPs: James Carver, Jill Seymour, Mike Hookem and Ray Finch.

- - - - The former UKIP leader Nigel Farage had acted as his political referee to stand for the leadership.

In August 2017, Bolton challenged the decision to allow Anne Marie Waters to stand as party leader.

He said her candidacy was in violation of the party's rules of procedure as she was not considered to be 'in good standing' due to previous exclusions for elections.

He withdrew the challenge when faced with the possibility that it could lead to counter-suits against the party.

Subsequently, he was quoted by the press as saying that UKIP was in danger of becoming the "UK Nazi party" if the wrong candidate were elected as leader.

Later in his leadership campaign, Bolton spoke of Britain's separation from the EU, saying that UKIP has "a moral responsibility to make sure Brexit is a success for everybody".

Following his victory, on 28 September, Bolton said "Brexit is our core task", while separately declaring Islam a "concern", although he believed an anti-Islam agenda would offer UKIP little gain.

In recognition of his new role, in October 2017 he was placed at Number 86 in 'The Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right' by commentator Iain Dale.

Bolton was removed as party leader in February 2018, following his relationship with a party member, and an ensuing controversy caused over racist comments she had made to a friend about Prince Harry's fiancée, Meghan Markle.

Bolton's departure triggered UKIP's fourth leadership election in eighteen months.

He subsequently announced plans to establish a new political party, to be called OneNation, that would adopt a Eurosceptic stance like UKIP.

The party, under the name Our Nation, was registered with the Electoral Commission on 31 October 2018, but de-registered on 4 November 2019.

On 4 January 2018, it was reported that Bolton had left his wife and embarked on a relationship with Jo Marney, a model and party member nearly thirty years his junior.

As a consequence, Bolton faced demands from members of UKIP that he stand down as leader.

On 14 January it was reported that Marney had been suspended from UKIP following allegations that she had sent a series of SMS messages containing racist comments about Prince Harry's fiancée, Meghan Markle.

Her comments also targeted immigrants and Grenfell Tower families.

The following day, Bolton announced he had ended his relationship with Marney, but on 18 January the Evening Standard reported that the two continued to be seen in each other's company.

Responding to these reports, Bolton suggested that the controversy would "fade away".

On 19 January 2018, MEP Jonathan Arnott announced his resignation from UKIP.

In his resignation letter, he stated that he had lost confidence in Bolton, who he felt was "not the right person for the job" – but thought no better of those "jockeying" for position in the party.

On 21 January, the UKIP National Executive Committee (NEC) delivered a vote of no confidence in Bolton; only Bolton voted against the motion.

Bolton had made it clear earlier that day that he would not resign if the vote went against him, because he felt another leadership election would destroy the party.