Paul Nuttall is still undecided but “probably will” stand for the Commons in June, his Ukip deputy has said, a day after the party leader suggested he could have more impact outside Westminster.
The speculation came as party donor Arron Banks criticised the party for going in “entirely the wrong direction” after it outlined its “integration agenda” of anti-Muslim policies, including a face veil ban and mandatory medical inspections for girls at risk of female genital mutilation.
Ukip’s deputy leader, Peter Whittle, said Nuttall was considering his options for standing, but denied he had deliberately attempted to dodge the question on Monday, after a press launch where Nuttall locked himself in a conference room to avoid journalists’ questions about his candidacy.
“Paul is still thinking about it; he didn’t lock himself in a room. He was at a press conference yesterday with 50 or 60 members of the media and he went from the room and went to get into his car and go away,” Whittle said.
“Some people have got it in for Paul, and it was a very important conference we had yesterday, very important press announcements and of course what they want to do is trivialise it by looking at what went on afterwards or on the side.”
Dashing into a waiting taxi on Monday, Nuttall said his candidacy would be a matter for the party’s national executive committee, but gave his strongest signal yet he would not stand in June.
“Ukip leaders have done quite well not being in parliament, haven’t they?” he said.
Whittle appeared to echo that view on Tuesday, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he had still not decided whether to stand either.
“We had a leader in Nigel Farage, an incredibly effective one, who was leader while we had an MP in parliament,” he said. “I’m sure Paul probably will stand but he is still thinking about it, as indeed am I.”
Several high-profile Ukip figures have declined to stand in the election, including Farage, the party’s deputy chair, Suzanne Evans, and former MP Douglas Carswell, who quit the party and said he will vote Conservative.
Banks, who had a high-profile row with Carswell, was intending to stand against the MP in his Clacton seat, but Carswell has now said he will not defend the seat.
On Monday, Banks also quit the race to allow a local Ukip candidate to stand but expressed unease at the party’s anti-Muslim stance. “I don’t approve of the war on Muslim religion,” Banks said.
Whittle said Banks was entitled to his view but denied the policies were anti-Muslim. “The burqa is not in the Qur’an, it’s not specified by the Qur’an – it’s a cultural practice,” he said, denying his party was in “a hell of a mess” on the issue.
“It’s not a hell of a mess, we have talked about these issues in Ukip for many years, it was in our 2010 manifesto that we should ban face coverings, purely the face coverings because we believe it is a literal barrier to integration in our country,” he said.
