In a radio interview aired on January 15, described later as being "excruciating", the UKIP chief admitted his former flame Jo Marney, a party activist, had urged him to reconsider and take her back.
As UKIP officials steadfastly refused to comment officially surrounding the issue, social media reacted swiftly with growing numbers of people calling for the party leader — the fourth in 15 months — to be suspended like Miss Marney, 25, who describes herself as a journalist and model.
Insisting he knew nothing about the offensive comments posted by his girlfriend before they were printed in British national newspapers, Mr.Bolton, 54, insisted he had no intention of resigning, although he is now the subject of an investigation by UKIP national executive.
READ MORE: UKIP Leader Refuses to Stand Down Over Ex-Girlfriend's Racist Remarks
Romance Had Only Begun
Speaking on LBC, he claimed they had only got together on Boxing Day and "were still getting to know each other" after three or four dates together.
Quizzed by presenter Nick Ferrari over the split, the three-times married politician said: "We had long discussions yesterday afternoon. Neither of us are at all happy with the situation. But, I feel that's the right decision to take at the moment.
"It was a mutual decision. We were put in a very difficult position by the party. She's totally distraught."
When asked if she had asked him to reconsider, Mr. Bolton responded: "Yes, absolutely. I believe there has been a concerted campaign to undermine her credibility and character, to destroy her basically, to be able to claim that I've got poor judgement."
The presenter hit back, however, saying: "You do have poor judgement, don't you?"
Mr. Bolton stated: "If I had seen those comments prior to going out with Jo, then indeed, I could be criticised for having poor judgement, but that's not the case."
Love Rat
Asked if he is a love rat, the Ukip leader responded: "You know Nick, I tried to do the right thing. I'm standing by her. There's no cold, ruthless cut in this relationship. We've got to change the way we are doing things. I'm not deserting her."
Fellow LBC presenter Iain Dale later labelled the interview "excruciating" and insisted Mr. Bolton, who was awarded the OBE, would not be leader by the end of the week.
Excruciating interview with Henry Bolton on @LBC at the moment. He'll be gone within days. He's made a laughing stock out of himself and his party. Nothing like an old fool, eh?
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) 15 January 2018
There is no mention of the love saga on the official UKIP website, requests for comment by Sputnik to both the party headquarters and Mr.Bolton's official office were ignored.
It was a different story, however, on several of the social media sites with many questioning the party leader's judgement as well as the alleged comments posted by Miss Marney.
To be fair to Henry Bolton, he can't have had any idea his new partner was racist.The picture of her proudly waving her signed copy of Enoch Powell's book provided no clue.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) 14 January 2018
Just to remind you, there were other racist comments from Henry Bolton’s girlfriend previously exposed in the press and UKIP were fine with that. They don’t care that she’s a racist. They care that she insulted the Royal Family.
— Red Sky At Night (@redskyatnight) 14 January 2018
BREAKING: The partner of UKIP leader, Henry Bolton, has been suspended from the party after saying Meghan Markle will ‘taint’ The Royal Family with ‘her seed’ and pave the way for a ‘black King’.
— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) 13 January 2018
Henry Bolton just told Nick Ferrari that his now ex girlfriend Jo Marney had "4 A star A Levels by the time she was 15 and a first class honours degree" — presumably from the Paul Nuttall University of the They Took Gullible out of the dictionary.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) 15 January 2018
Sorry @_HenryBolton, you need to resign.
— Thomas Evans (@ThomasEvansGB) 13 January 2018
'Meghan's seed will taint our Royal Family': UKIP chief's glamour model lover, 25, is suspended from the party over racist texts about Prince Harry's wife-to-behttps://t.co/fifeIS74yw
Quizzed earlier on television, Mr. Bolton remained coy over whether he had formally separated from his wife, Tatiana. "We're not legally separated or anything, but my wife has been in Austria since July with our two children, and that was a move she made by mutual agreement," he said. The living arrangement was part due to "family finances" as she works in Vienna for the OSCE. The couple have two daughters aged 5 and 18 months.
READ MORE: UKIP Leader's Girlfriend Under Fire for Dissing Prince Harry's Fiancée
The UKIP leader maintained he had been unaware of the offensive comments, which also targeted immigrants and Grenfell Tower families. "I'll be entirely hones, however appalling and insulting those comments that they made in those direct personal messages are, I honestly don't believe that those are her core beliefs," he added.
