Jane & Mike.

Dear members,

A number of people have contacted us to express concern about the conduct of the current UKIP leadership election, and in some cases to question the NEC’s legitimacy in this matter.

Many of the complaints centre around Steven Woolfe MEP’s candidacy and the subsequent rejection of his application by the UKIP National Executive Committee (NEC).

While many members supported Mr. Woolfe’s application, ultimately there are rules, and it is the NEC's job to apply them.

However, we understand that not everyone agrees with the NEC decision as it stands, but it is worth considering the following points:

There are some very highly qualified leadership candidates, and UKIP as a party does not and should not depend on the leadership of one individual.

There is every reason to expect Mr. Woolfe to continue to play a high profile leadership role within UKIP, equivalent to his high degree of talent and national recognition. There are no barriers to him standing as a leader in future.

We would, therefore, appeal to members to let the leadership candidates who are in place be heard before making any decision which could damage the Party we have all worked so hard to build.

It is vitally important for the interests of the Party that we keep this debate calm, reasonable and within the structure of the party rules, as not doing so directly damages our reputation with the public, and hence our future electability.

Please bear this in mind over the course of this debate, both now and over the next few weeks.

Thank you for your time in this matter, and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Jane Collins MEP & Mike Hookem MEP