Henry Bolton has withdrawn his legal challenge – Anne Marie Waters will stay on the ballot.

Will wonders never cease!

I cannot be the only one who did not expect this outcome. Here is the official statement:

“As you may have been aware, UKIP was facing a potential legal challenge for allowing all ten candidates onto the ballot paper in the coming leadership election.I am happy to report that this matter has now been resolved amicably and that ballot papers with all the candidates’ names will now be posted out to the membership in early September as planned.

Piers Wauchope, Returning Officer”

So congratulations are in order to all members who demanded to uphold UKIP’s libertarian principles, who deemed it more important that even a candidate they would not vote for remain on the ballot. In the words of the famous tabloid: it wuz us members who won it!

Of course we would all like to know what possessed Henry Bolton to place this challenge at this particular time, right before the ballots had to go to the printers.

Of course we would all like to know how he now sees his chances of winning this contest.

Of course we would all like to know what the other candidates thought of this – we’re happy to publish their statements.

JRE announced this outcome on his Facebook page/video – it was posted well before the 2 p.m. dateline set by the interim leader as the time when the NEC were to vote. So – how did he know?

Meanwhile – rejoice!

MORE BREAKING NEWS!

We have just now received this press statement from Henry Bolton which we quote in full:

Henry Bolton OBE, a candidate in the UKIP leadership election, has withdrawn his earlier challenge to the NEC’s decision to allow Anne-Marie Waters to stand in the party’s leadership contest.

Henry said:

“Having consulted with the party’s leadership it has become apparent that my challenge of the NEC’s decision to allow Anne-Marie Waters to stand for the leadership will, if upheld, result in counter legal actions against the party that may disrupt the leadership contest and expose the party to unacceptable financial risk.  I am unwilling to place the party in such a position and have therefore withdrawn my challenge.

My challenge was made in order to preserve the integrity of the party and prevent potentially irreparable damage to the party’s reputation and credibility. In withdrawing my challenge I retain my unambiguously clear position that the NEC, which has become a forum in which individual agendas are pursued rather than the interests of the party, is wrong to allow Anne-Marie Waters to stand and is unfit for purpose in its present form.

The decision to allow Anne-Marie Waters to stand places the credibility of the party, and therefore its ability to hold the government to account over BREXIT, in jeopardy. This is an unforgivable act on the part of the NEC. Reform of the NEC, which no longer carries the confidence of the party, cannot be put off any longer.”