If Waters did win it would most likely see the end of Ukip – the UK’s third-biggest party by votes cast in the 2015 election – as a mainstream political force.
Waters stood for Ukip in the Lewisham East constituency in 2015 but was prevented from doing so at the June election following concerns about her views on Islam, which she has described as “evil”.
However, she remains a party member, and some in Ukip believe it could be difficult to expel or suspend Waters now she is standing for leader. She was deputy leader of the UK arm of Pegida, the far-right and anti-Islam group, and has praised Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s Front National, and Geert Wilders, head of the Freedom party in the Netherlands.
On Saturday, Waters formally launched her leadership bid in Rotherham, a location chosen because of its association with the long-running scandal of girls abused by men predominantly from Pakistani-British backgrounds.
The event took place at a secret venue after the original choice cancelled Waters’s booking on the advice of local police. Ukip took the unusual step of advising its local members not to attend the launch, saying the party did not endorse Waters’s views.
Nominations close later this month, with Nuttall’s successor chosen by a direct vote of members ahead of the party conference in late September.
With Ukip’s primary founding aim of a robust Brexit now supported by both the Conservatives and Labour, those vying to chart its future are broadly split between Farage-ist economic libertarians and the more hard-right, Islam-focused approach of Waters and Whittle.
Etheridge said he would most likely stay in the race to represent the former, unless a candidate of similar views emerged who looked more likely to win. But he said: “It’s a turning point. Whichever side wins, the other side won’t have a future in the party.”
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Very spicey.
We'll see how redpilled UKIP members are
