“I Will Stand To Be UKIP’s Next Leader If Support Is There,” Anne Marie Waters Confirms In Interview With VoteWatch

With a UKIP leadership race looming, Anne Marie Waters has confirmed that she will stand to replace Neil Hamilton “if the support is there”. 

Waters has stood in numerous elections for UKIP, including being selected to be the UKIP candidate for Lewisham East in the 2017 general election, before being removed after party leader Paul Nuttall described her views as “way above and beyond party policy”.

A civil war of sorts ensued, with Waters having won over the staunch support of a large chunk of UKIP’s members.

Following Nuttall’s resignation as party leader, Waters announced she would be throwing her hat in the ring to become her outgoing critic’s replacement.

During her campaign, Waters said she would not be opposed to Tommy Robinson joining UKIP, sparking eighteen of the party’s twenty MEPs threatening to leave if she won the leadership.

Stating he would form a new pro-Brexit party if she won, Nigel Farage would go on to create one anyway, The Brexit Party (now Reform UK) after Waters came second to the short-lived UKIP leader Henry Bolton, before launching her own party, For Britain.

Anne Marie Waters. Credit: @TweetForBritain.

Though winning a small number of council seats, achieving popularity, and even gaining support from famous singer-songwriter Morrissey, the eventual dissolution of For Britain in 2022 led to Anne Marie Waters rejoining UKIP the following year, this time under the leadership of Neil Hammilton.

“I wasn’t in Ukip for most of Neil’s leadership but I like him very much,” Anne Marie Waters told VoteWatch. “Ukip is the only party that strikes the right note for me. It’s tough but without indulging in wild theories or antisemitism or the like. Plus, I learned in For Britain that lack of recognition is the biggest obstacle a new party faces – nobody knows who you are.

“Ukip is a household name and that is a big mountain already climbed.”

Last year, dismal election results saw UKIP losing all of its council seats across the country, taking them from over 500 councillors at their peak in 2016 before the Brexit referendum, to zero just seven years later in 2023.

Asked if UKIP ever stands a chance of bouncing back and competiting even with the likes of Reform UK, Waters said: “It’s tough definitely, but I think it can be turned around with a new leader, new focus, and commitment to fighting elections.

“I think sometimes smaller parties forget the point is to win elections, I’d hope to refocus Ukip on that.”

“If vote share remains small, we’ll struggle to be taken seriously,” she admitted, “we’ve got to get those numbers up at election time – and that means focus, one step at a time. If I become Ukip leader, I will create focused election groups around the country with a fixed task. This will certainly help get things moving again.”

Asked directly if she intends to stand in the recently announced UKIP leadership election, she said: “Yes I will stand if the support is there.

2017 Leadership Election: John Bolton, Anne Marie Waters, and Peter Whittle.

“I have been a leader and know all the mistakes not to make.. what works and what doesn’t – I’ve learned so much and changed so much in the past couple of years. I am a strong public speaker, I am consistent and have never wavered, and I have a passion and commitment I rarely see in politics.

“As I said, getting those vote numbers up will be number one priority, but we also need to tackle the uncomfortable issues, such as sending illegal immigrants back, and antiwhite hatred. I don’t believe Reform, for example, would do that. To me, they are presenting themselves as an alternative to the Conservatives, but with the same policies. That’s not enough.

“Reform’s argument is simply we’ll do what the Tories don’t, but they have same lukewarm message. We need to be tougher.”

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