Not only did Gerard Batten appoint the far–right, anti–Islam activist and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley–Lennon (co–founder and former leader of the English Defence League, better known as Tommy Robinson) as a political advisor, but he also attempted to defend the anti–feminist YouTuber Carl Benjamin, who was a UKIP candidate for election to the European Parliament at the time, and who'd tweeted "I wouldn't even rape you" to the Labour MP and Shadow Cabinet member Jess Phillips.
Piers Wauchope was appointed as acting leader following Batten's demise, and in August 2019 Richard Braine was elected as the party's leader. Braine was endorsed by Batten, and he refused to attend the party conference in September 2019 after the NEC effectively barred Batten from membership. In October 2019 the party attempted to obtain a High Court injunction against Braine, on the grounds that he (along with three other members) had stolen data from it. This application was summarily refused, but at the end of October 2019 Braine resigned as UKIP's leader.
Patricia Ann ('Pat') Mountain was then appointed as interim leader. On 2 December 2019, Mountain appeared on Sky News following the launch of the party's manifesto for the forthcoming European Parliament elections. The interview, conducted by Adam Boulton, was described (by the London Evening Standard, among others) as a "car crash", after Mountain proved incapable of explaining (never mind justifying) UKIP policies, and could not even name any of the 44 constituencies in which her party claimed to be fielding candidates in the election.
In June 2020, Bombay–born Freddy Vachha was elected unopposed as UKIP leader. But on 12 September 2020 Vachha was suspended from the party following allegations of bullying and harassment, and the disgraced former Conservative back–bencher Neil Hamilton (now a UKIP member of the Welsh Assembly or Senedd) was installed as interim leader. Vachha decided to take legal action, but dropped the case after a judge refused his request to fast–track it.
In April 2021 Hamilton lost his seat in the Senedd, along with all UKIP's other members. Six months later he was elected as the party's bona fide leader.
After all this, some might say that UKIP can no longer be taken seriously as a political party and should not be mentioned in any self–respecting quiz.
© Haydn Thompson 2021