Exclusive - Henry Bolton interview: My savings are 'just abo

Henry Bolton, the embattled leader of the UK Independence Party, has admitted he is running out of money after the party refused to cover his expenses.

Mr Bolton told Chopper’s Brexit podcast – available on the Telegraph's website later this week - that he has nearly exhausted his savings living in a flat in a hotel in Folkestone as he battles to stay on as party leader.

Mr Bolton, who does not receive a salary, is the first Ukip leader not to be independently wealthy or have a pension. Unlike some of his predecessors he is also not an MEP.

He is entitled to a modest monthly stipend, likely to be in the low thousands of pounds, to cover his expenses as leader.

However Mr Bolton said the party’s ruling National Executive Committee refused to agree to pay him the stipend at a meeting on Sunday when the NEC’s members voted 14-1 that they had no confidence in him.

Mr Bolton’s leadership of Ukip has unravelled in spectacular fashion since his relationship with Jo Marney, a 25-year-old model, emerged.

Mr Bolton, 54, had left his wife Tatiana, 42, and starting a relationship with Ms Marney after Christmas but he faced a calls to resign after Ms Marney was revealed to have made highly offensive comments about Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's fiancée, and black people.

In a 24 hour period of political chaos this week, Ukip’s ruling national executive committee passed a vote of no confidence by 14 to one in Mr Bolton late on Sunday.

By yesterday morning [tues] 16 of the party’s 24-strong team of party spokesmen and women had quit their roles in protest at Mr Bolton’s refusal to resign.

Mr Bolton admitted the troubles at the party were extracting a large personal cost. He said: “There are bills to be paid and all my savings have just about gone.

“There is absolutely nothing convenient in any of this for me. I am not doing it for the money, I am not doing it for my ego, I am not doing it for my personal life.

“I am doing it simply and only because I believe that Ukip’s voice must be heard in the discussion about leaving the European Union.”

The stipend to cover his expenses had been raised on Sunday, he said, but it was agreed to postpone the decision until the next NEC meeting.

Mr Bolton said he told the meeting: “We do need to discuss it because the present situation is not sustainable.”

One friend told The Telegraph: "He is paying for everything. Tickets from Folkestone to London. Everything. He doesn't get a bean."

Mr Bolton painted a grim picture of finances of Ukip which he said was losing “£20,000 to £30,000 a month. Every month there is this difficulty in balancing the books”.

Mr Bolton’s future is now set to be decided at an extraordinary general meeting of the party next month, when members will vote on whether he can stay on as leader.

In a round of media interviews Mr Bolton also risked inflaming feelings against him by saying he might still pursue a relationship with Ms Marney if it did not damage the party.

Writing for The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Mr Bolton appealed to them directly for members' support, saying: "I believe that, despite the distractions of the past few weeks, I am the person best placed to take the party forward, and to lead the party into a series of enormously important events over the next year.”

He added: “Outside a very small group of people in senior positions in Ukip, nobody cares about the make-up of the NEC, nobody cares about tabloid tittle tattle. What they care about is our country, its future and ensuring that an independent Britain is just that.”