Recently restored UKIP member Suzanne Evans appeared on BBC This Week with Andrew Neil and seemed unsure whether or not she will put her hat in the race for the party leadership.
UKIP insiders however, have told Breitbart London that Ms. Evans will be launching her campaign on Sunday, and noted “the coy thing doesn’t really work because people know she’s power mad”. Another source stated: “If she wants it, she needs to be a lot more convincing than sighing and claiming she’s on the fence. We don’t want another reluctant leader”.
Less than a month after her party suspension had lapsed, Suzanne Evans took to the BBC this Week programme with Andrew Neil to discuss the future of the United Kingdom Independence Party. Mr. Neil pushed Ms. Evans over whether or not she would consider a leadership bid after the sudden resignation of newly elected leader Diane James, but Ms. Evans herself claimed to be sitting on the fence over the issue, unable to confirm if she was running or not.
When directly asked by the present if she was considering running for the leadership position she replied, “I am very carefully considering it Andrew,” and went on to criticize Diane James who shocked many by resigning less than a month into her leadership. “We’ve had a problem of late with our last leader who perhaps didn’t consider it carefully enough,” she said.
Ms. Evans claimed that her friends were pushing her to run for the leadership position but acknowledged that she wasn’t sure that being the leader would suit her as it could be a “massive lifestyle change” and an “enormous stress” leading to some speculation that she wasn’t 100 per cent enthusiastic about the prospect.
One critic of Ms. Evans has been Breitbart London editor-in-chief and UKIP leadership candidate Raheem Kassam who commented on the segment in which Ms. Evans took a clear dig at his Donald Trump style slogan, “Make UKIP Great again,” saying that Evans said, ” ‘drop the right wing trump style’ in clear attack on me. She’s terrified. And stealing my policies!”
Tweeting last night, UKIP leadership candidate Raheem Kassam pointed out the various links Ms. Evans has to the BBC saying that she was merely waiting for the opportune time to announce her candidacy for the leadership spot on a scheduled interview with BBC presenter Andrew Marr on Sunday. He even went as far as to label her the “BBC candidate.”
Some in the media, including radio host James Whale, have criticized the current prominent members of UKIP as being less than enthusiastic after the Brexit vote, though changed his mind regarding Kassam by the end of their interview calling him the first energized UKIP candidate since Nigel Farage.
Others in the press have also criticised the constant infighting in the party. Ms. Evans herself said, “I know UKIP doesn’t have the best reputation,” after Mr. Neil mentioned the incident with Steven Woolfe in the European Parliament in which the MEP favourite to take over UKIP leadership claimed he was assaulted by a fellow UKIP member. Mr. Woolfe later quit the party altogether over the infighting and conflict within the party.