Ukip’s most high-profile ethnic minority candidate has quit the party, claiming that she was sexually harassed by its general secretary.
Natasha Bolter, a headline speaker at Ukip’s party conference, has pulled out of hustings today in South Basildon, where she was widely expected to be elected as parliamentary candidate in the winnable seat.
Ms Bolter, 35, claims that Roger Bird, Ukip’s general secretary and the man in charge of vetting parliamentary candidates, propositioned her over dinner at his London club on the day that he interviewed her as a prospective candidate.
“He asked if we could continue the interview at the Oxford and Cambridge Club that evening,” Ms Bolter said. “I thought it was because I was nervous. [But] when I went I could see that he wasn’t really interested in what I had to offer as a politician. He took me down to the snooker room and said ‘I find you very attractive’. He said, ‘Would you like to come home with me?’ ”
Ukip suspended Mr Bird last night “following allegations of impropriety . . . with regard to candidate selection”.
It is understood that Mr Bird, 41, has claimed that he had a consensual relationship with Ms Bolter. She denies that any romantic or sexual contact took place. Ukip leaders were understood to have urged Ms Bolter as late as Sunday night to stand in the hustings.
Neil Hamilton, the controversial former Conservative MP who is now deputy chairman, has been parachuted in as a last-minute candidate.
Ms Bolter, who defected from Labour to Ukip in September, claimed that Mr Bird continued to try to sleep with her after she told him that she was not interested.
In October he invited her for a second time to the Oxford and Cambridge Club, where membership is limited to those who attended the universities. “He asked me to pop into his office first at 5pm,” Ms Bolter said. “If the general secretary of the party rings you and says that, you go.”
Mr Bird allegedly told Ms Bolter, who was wearing jeans, that she was not dressed smartly enough to dine later at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, she said. She said he bought her a £169 dress from Ted Baker and some matching shoes, before approvingly telling her that she “now looked like a girl who could get in a taxi”.
“That pissed me off,” Ms Bolter said. “I felt like slapping him. Before, when I was in jeans, I was obviously an Underground or a bus kind of person.”
Ms Bolter claimed that at this second meeting, after a heavy meal, Mr Bird “leant over and tried to kiss me”.
“It was obvious that he wanted to sleep with me,” she said. “He said, I can help you, I’m supporting you.
“I was quite adamant that I’m not going to sleep with him or anyone [in Ukip]. It’s hard enough for women. We shouldn’t have to sleep with people to get to the right place.”
Ms Bolter said that she left while “very upset”.
After that night she alleges that she received anonymous emails “bullying” her and alleging that she had slept with Mr Bird and was even pregnant with his child. She complained to party officials who instigated an investigation that led to Mr Bird’s suspension last night.
Ms Bolter’s problems with the party did not stop with Mr Bird. She alleges a catalogue of racism and sexism that went undealt with despite complaints to top officials.
She claimed, she was told by another prospective parliamentary candidate that her only job was “to look pretty and to get us votes”. On another occasion, a local party chairman allegedly told her that a woman with a young baby was a “f***ing Pole” who “hasn’t worked out the benefits system and how to get a free pushchair”.
Last night a Ukip spokesman did not comment on the substantive allegations. However, he said that the first knowledge that the party had that anything was wrong was on November 5. He said that an internal inquiry began on November 6 and that Mr Bird was suspended after a “draft report” by external consultants submitted on December 7.
“Unfortunately, Ukip has had to suspend Mr Bird pending a full investigation into allegations made against him. The party has acted swiftly and decisively and will not tolerate impropriety of any kind amongst its staff,” the spokesman said.
Mr Bird declined to comment.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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