The reason behind Roger Bird’s mysterious suspension as Ukip general secretary has been revealed. The splash of today’s Times makes several allegations (£) about Bird and Natasha Bolter, a Labour defector to Ukip and potential PPC in South Basildon:
‘Natasha Bolter, a headline speaker at Ukip’s party conference, has pulled out of hustings today in South Basildon, where she was widely expected to be elected as parliamentary candidate in the winnable seat.
‘Ms Bolter, 35, claims that Roger Bird, Ukip’s general secretary and the man in charge of vetting parliamentary candidates, propositioned her over dinner at his London club on the day that he interviewed her as a prospective candidate.
‘”He asked if we could continue the interview at the Oxford and Cambridge Club that evening,” Ms Bolter said. “I thought it was because I was nervous. [But] when I went I could see that he wasn’t really interested in what I had to offer as a politician. He took me down to the snooker room and said ‘I find you very attractive’. He said, ‘Would you like to come home with me?’’
Bizarrely, the party has chosen none other Neil Hamilton, the disgraced Conservative and now deputy chairman of Ukip, to contest South Basildon after Bolter refused to take part — a seat that is likely to be one of those within Ukip’s sights at the next election. The hustings are due to take place this evening, so we’ll find out if the Hamiltons will be back on the campaign trail.
The party has said it acted swiftly to respond to the allegations. Every party comes across allegations like this from time to time, and as the way the Liberal Democrats handled the Rennard scandal showed, one of the most important things is to take firm action quickly. Although Ukip denied yesterday his suspension was related to a pending story, it’s impossible for them to deny the two are linked.
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