Nigel Farage has warned that Ukip is on the verge of collapsing – but has backed Henry Bolton to stay as leader.
He said the current bout of party in-fighting risks sending Ukip ‘down the path of self-destruction into irrelevance’.
And he said the only chance for Ukip to survive is for members to rally round Mr Bolton and allow him to overhaul the party and get on with leading it.
His intervention comes ahead of a crunch meeting tomorrow where party members will decide whether to force out Mr Bolton and allow him to carry on as leader.
Meanwhile, the party is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as it was ordered to pay up to £200,000 in legal fees after one of its MEPs was found guilty of libel.
Nigel Farage has warned that Ukip is on the verge of collapsing – but has backed Henry Bolton to stay as leader
Mr Farage said: ‘Make no mistake, Ukip is collapsing. There is no point in pretending it is not.
‘Indeed, the situation is even worse than the national press realises.
‘The basic structures of the party organisation are disappearing; branches are closing and many of the sitting councillors in the forthcoming elections wish to run as independents.’
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Farage said he thought the only chances for the beleaguered party to survive is to let Mr Bolton carry on as leader.
He wrote: ‘I believe it would be better to allow Mr Bolton, with all his faults, the chance to turn Ukip into an electoral machine again.
The alternative is for the party to carry on down the path of self-destruction into irrelevance. It may be too late to save Ukip, but you never know.’
Jane Collins, an MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, last year was told to pay £162,000 in damages to three Labour MPs after she wrongly claimed they had known about child abuse in Rotherham and ignored it.
Jane Collins (pictured), an MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, was told to pay £162,000 in damages to three Labour MPs after she wrongly claimed they had known about child abuse in Rotherham and ignored it
The High Court yesterday ruled Ukip was liable to pay some of the trio’s £670,000 costs. Labour sources estimated the party’s share would be for around £200,000.
Sir Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley, John Healey, who represents Wentworth and Dearne, and Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, sued Mrs Collins for libel and slander over a speech she gave at Ukip’s conference in September 2014 – a month after a report found about 1,400 children in the area had been abused between 1997 and 2013.
The judge said she alleged that each of them knew many of the details of the exploitation yet deliberately chose not to intervene.
She also expressed the opinion that they acted out of political correctness, political cowardice or political selfishness and were guilty of misconduct so grave that it was or should be criminal, as it aided the perpetrators.
The latest crisis comes as party members will vote on Saturday on whether to get rid of its leader Henry Bolton (above, with Jo Marney)
A judge yesterday ordered that Ukip should pay the MPs’ costs from March 20 2015 to June 23 2015, and costs from the assessment hearing.
The order would be subject to detailed assessment which would give Ukip the opportunity to challenge the sums claimed.
A group of senior party figures last month warned Ukip faced ‘imminent bankruptcy’ unless it immediately started laying off staff and giving notice on its tenancies for office buildings. Its chairman and press officer have since given up their paid roles.
Ukip’s most recent accounts show that it was £380,630 in debt even before last year’s surprise general election.
The party has struggled to remain relevant following the Brexit vote and Mr Farage’s departure as leader.
The financial crisis comes as it faces the prospect of losing its leader.
Party members will hold a vote of confidence in Mr Bolton in Birmingham tomorrow, after he left his third wife for a model less than half his age, who it emerged had posted a slew of racist messages online.