Ukip has announced it is to seek yet another leader after Gerard Batten stepped down.
Batten, whose vehemently anti-Islam policies and links to the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson prompted an exodus of senior members, made the announcement at a meeting of the Ukip national executive on Sunday, a party statement said.
A replacement – the fifth permanent leader since Nigel Farage left the post in 2016 – would be unveiled on 10 August, it added.
Batten took over as leader without a contest last year after the disastrous tenure of Henry Bolton, and pledged to serve for only a year. However, he would have faced pressure to quit after Ukip performed badly in both the local and European elections last month.
In the European elections, Ukip took just 3.2% of the vote and secured no MEPs. In 2014, Ukip topped the poll and won 24 MEPs.
While Batten stabilised Ukip’s financial situation and initially built up the party in the polls as public frustration with Brexit grew, it was badly hit by the sudden rise of Farage’s Brexit party, which topped the vote at the European elections.
Farage was among a series of senior Ukip members who left in protest at Batten’s hard-right stance after Batten appointed Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as an adviser.
The Ukip statement said: “Gerard Batten stepped down as leader of the UK Independence party at a meeting of its national executive committee on Sunday night, fulfilling a promise to step down approximately one year after being elected unopposed.
“A leadership election is due to be called, with the proposed date for the announcement of the result to be Saturday 10 August.”
The party chair, Kirstan Herriot, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Gerard for his dedicated service to the party and expect to be announcing our new leader in early August.”
With the exodus of senior members, there are few relatively prominent Ukip figures left to compete for the job. One confirmed candidate will be Mike Hookem, formerly an MEP and the party’s deputy leader.
After the European election, Hookem said Batten should step down, saying the party had been “derailed” from its traditional priorities and had lost its broad electoral appeal.
