BATTEN DOWN
Who is Gerard Batten? Former Ukip leader who quit after disastrous European election results
FORMER Ukip leader Gerard Batten came under fire for appearing to steer the party into the extremes of politics.
Nigel Farage warned the party would face "total and utter marginalisation" if it moves to the far right - and it had disastrous results in the European elections.
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Who is Gerard Batten?
Gerard Batten was the tenth leader of the UK Independence Party.
Batten, 64, from Essex, was one of the party's founding members back in 1993.
Before becoming Ukip's first General Secretary, he worked as a salesman for British Telecom.
The MP has been embroiled in a number of controversies, many of which circle around his views on Islam.
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Why did he quit as Ukip leader?
Batten stepped down after a disastrous European Election result saw him lose his seat on June 2, 2019.
The poll mauling saw Ukip lose every single one of their MEPs, while Nigel Farage's Brexit Party came out as the biggest winners.
Batten's party lost its London seat - a seat Ukip has had since 2004.
Batten confirmed his resignation in a tweet, writing: "My term as UKIP Leader ends today.
"A big thank you to all who have supported my leadership & UKIP over the last 15 months, morally, materially & financially.
"The NEC will now begin a leadership election process, which will see the next leader elected within the next 90 days."
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What did he say about Ukip's 'interim manifesto' and becoming a 'radical populist party'?
Batten denied taking the party to the far right.
During the party's annual conference in Birmingham, Batten said Mr Farage should be "a little bit more careful about criticising me".
He recalled a time when Farage had shared platforms with right-wing German party Alternative fur Deutschland.
Mr Batten was keen to use the two-day conference to present Ukip as a true populist alternative.
Their interim manifesto included:
- Plans for an "NHS health card" entitling British citizens to free medical treatment. Non-Britons would require private medical insurance unless a post-Brexit UK had done a reciprocal deal with their government.
- Turning the UK Border Force into a "Migration Control Department" with a remit to exclude "extremist" Muslims and a five-year ban on property purchases by foreign nationals in designated areas.
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