Thursday, 28 July 2016

Confirmed leadership candidates so far

The deadline for nominations for the leadership of UKIP will be closing soon and six candidates have confirmed their intention to stand so far.

Candidate
Jonathan Arnott MEP
Cllr Lisa Duffy
Bill Etheridge MEP
Elizabeth Jones
Steven Woolfe MEP

Jonathan Arnott is UKIP MEP for the north east of England and served as UKIP General Secretary for 6 years. Arnott is a mathematician and continued as head of maths at Handsworth Christian School until he was elected MEP in 2014. He is officially UKIP's most rebellious MEP but also has the highest voting record of UKIP's MEPs.

Lisa Duffy is a councillor and leader of the UKIP group on Huntingdonshire District Council and a town councillor on Ramsey Town Council, the first UKIP-controlled council in the country which she was also mayor of. Duffy is leader of the UKIP group on Huntingdonshire District and Chief of Staff to Patrick O'Flynn MEP. She has been endorsed by Suzanne Evans.

Bill Etheridge is one of the UKIP MEPs for the West Midlands and councillor on Dudley MBC. Bill is a member of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, CAMRA and is an Associate of the American Legislative Exchange Council. He sits on the EU Regional Development Committee and is being backed for leader by his ex-wife, UKIP disabilities spokesman Star Anderton.

Elizabeth Jones is a member of UKIP's National Executive Council and Deputy Chairman of Lambeth UKIP. Elizabeth has contested 11 elections for UKIP and was a key member of UKIP's election campaign.

Steven Woolfe is one of the UKIP MEPs for the north west of England and a practising barrister. Woolfe is UKIP's financial affairs and City of London spokesman and head of UKIP's Black & Minority Ethnic Association. He has the support of Nathan Gill AM and is currently favourite to succeed Nigel Farage and become the first BME leader of a mainstream political party in the UK.