UKIP council group leader and two other councillors quit party

The Stoke Sentinel reports from Newcastle-under-Lyme on the departure of the Ukip council group leader:

Group leader Derrick Huckfield and fellow councillors Eileen Braithwaite and David Woolley, together with former Newcastle branch chairman David Nixon, have all left UKIP following a long-running internal row.

The three councillors are now sitting as independent members of Newcastle Borough Council.

Mr Huckfield, who is also a county councillor, said the four had not attended branch meetings in eight months after being ‘sacked’ as officials…

Mr Huckfield said… “People from the party came in and told us our leaflets were rubbish and we had to change them, because they were black and white rather than colour… Then they decided on a candidate – Phil Wood – who I’d never even heard of”.