Political

Ukip Portsmouth infighting returns – and sees Parliamentary candidate quit

And yet another one…

A UKIP parliamentary candidate has quit after falling out with the party’s Portsmouth South chairman.

Don Jerrard, a former business lawyer from Southampton, was due to run for Fareham MP in May but was suspended yesterday following outbursts relating to chairman Paul Lovegrove and his past. He then resigned his role.

Mr Jerrard said that he had left the local group after becoming disillusioned with it supporting Mr Lovegrove…

Mr Jerrard’s departure follows Portsmouth city councillor Paul Godier who quit this month…

Mr Jerrard’s campaign manager Bob Ingram, who until recently was the vice chairman of Fareham and Gosport Ukip, has also quit due to the situation.

Mr Ingram said he did not agree with the way Ukip had treated Mr Jerrard and his complaints. [The News, Portsmouth]

Even by Ukip’s standards, the state of their party in Portsmouth South is a mess. Here is what also happened in December:

CONCERN surrounds Ukip’s branch in Portsmouth as members admit there is confusion over its future.

It comes after former Ukip politician Douglas Denny launched a fresh attack on the party after being deselected as its parliamentary candidate for Portsmouth South.

In an email to political supporters, Mr Denny said a ‘total mess’ had been created in Portsmouth and the Ukip branch was demoralised and had disbanded. [The News, Portsmouth]

Somehow this seems appropriate.

UPDATE

Don Jerrard called time on his election campaign on Monday citing his opposition to Ukip supporting a convicted criminal as his main reason…

Mr Jerrard, who joined Ukip in March 2013, said: ‘He [Paul Lovegrove] has a serious criminal record.

‘I reported my concerns to some senior people in Ukip who told me to “shut up”.

‘I could not run a campaign and ask people to match what I was putting in under those circumstances.’ [The News, Portsmouth]

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