UKIP leadership - fourth time lucky for Bill Etheridge?

The West Midlands MEP is one of a growing number of party members who has called for current leader Henry Bolton to stand down in the wake of a scandal involving his former girlfriend Jo Marney.

And Mr Etheridge has suggested he could throw his hat into the ring to become UKIP's fifth different leader in the last 19 months.

He said of the possibility of a leadership tilt: "It is not really in my big list of priorities, but if no one else comes forward who gives a damn about people and who understands this kind of thing, well, we'll see."

Mr Bolton's future is set to be decided later this month by a members' vote at a party EGM in Birmingham.

Mr Etheridge added: "Bolton won't win at the EGM, but if he did win, I'll carry on fighting. I'm not against him, because frankly he is not worth the effort.

"But I'll carry on fighting for Brexit and working for the interests of people in this area, because that's what I am here to do.

"Unlike him I am not focused on my own self and putting my own affairs in the public eye. They have been out there enough as it is, quite frankly. It is an unfortunate side effect of doing this job."

Mr Etheridge quit as UKIP's spokesman for sport last month as part of a mass walkout of senior party figures in protest at Mr Bolton's leadership.

It came after it was reported Ms Marney made racist remarks about Meghan Markle.

However Mr Bolton resisted calls to quit as leader, insisted that he would 'stand by' Ms Marney and claimed her controversial messages did not reflect her 'core beliefs'.

He also alleged that his critics within the party had used his girlfriend as a way of attacking his position.

Mr Etheridge first bid for leadership in September 2016, coming third behind Diane James following Nigel Farage's decision to stand down after the EU referendum.

He withdrew from the leadership election of November 2017 to support eventual winner Paul Nuttall, after Ms James had quit just 18 days into her tenure.

He also withdrew his candidacy in the September 2017 leadership battle, pledging his support for John Rees-Evans, who came fourth and has since left the party.

Mr Etheridge is behind a ‘proposal for transformation’ that has put forward ‘radical' cost-cutting measures to ‘save UKIP from going under’.