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Ukip’s suspension of its general secretary “following allegations of impropriety” has seen the party descend into a sexual harassment scandal.
The claims involve one of Nigel Farage’s most prominent female prodigies, the potential parliamentary candidate Natasha Bolter. She told The Times newspaper that Roger Bird twice propositioned her for sex and said that he could advance her career in return.
In a statement, the party said it had acted “swiftly and decisively” in suspending Bird pending an investigation – but the allegations will come as a major blow to the Eurosceptic party which has been working hard to deal with what Mr Farage himself admitted is a women problem.
That report was produced by the then-general secretary Michael Greaves, who said that “for what it’s worth something may have happened to her”. The unnamed activist did not take her allegations beyond a complaint to the Ukip director Lisa Duffy for fear of creating “a scandal for everyone who works so hard in Ukip”.
Bloom provoked national outrage in 2013 when he called female Ukip supports “sluts” at a conference, and when he was appointed to the European Parliament’s women’s rights committee told journalists: “No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age.”
But he then followed that up by making his own apparently sexist comment, saying: “What do you want me to do? Go sell flowers?”
It ultimately all adds up to a major issue for the party when it comes to the polls. Evidence from one poll ahead of the Heywood and Middleton by-election early in October suggested Ukip was ahead of Labour by 41 per cent to 38 per cent among male voters, but trailing with only 21 per cent support among women. Labour ultimately took the seat.
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