On 7 October, Woolfe and
Raheem Kassam announced their intent to run for the leadership. Woolfe was seen as favourite to succeed Diane James, following his failure to submit his nomination in time for the previous leadership election. Woolfe's campaign message was that UKIP had to "stand up for the ignored working class and secure a radically different political landscape in Britain". He was criticised by
The Huffington Post for his past comments on social media; for example, when he told people with whom he had disagreed on
Twitter to "fuck off". Moreover, the language used to describe the transgender community caused disputes both internally and externally. He openly referred to himself as "
Islamophobe of the Year" in 2014, and advertised 'Brits for Trump' shirts that he said he had made in response to requests. Promoting himself as a "straight-talking" candidate, some of his tweets and social presence had been strongly condemned, including a derogatory comment following Scottish First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon's miscarriage in 2014. Rival candidate Suzanne Evans criticised him as "far right", whilst Nigel Farage responded, calling her "poisonous". As the self-described "Farage-ist" candidate, his ideas on the party's future included introducing the position of party
CEO so the party can be "run like an organisation". Kassam's key message had been to prevent UKIP moving to the "squishy centre ground". promising, if elected, to ensure
Brexit is delivered. He further pledged that if UKIP under his leadership were to form a government, a priority would be ensuring national pride across the UK. Whittle proposed schools fly the
Union Jack, a statement that angered some groups. John Rees-Evans, a former
British Army soldier, declared his candidacy on 17 October. He pledged to ensure that the UK left the EU, and said the government ought to be reduced in size and function. He stated his belief that the current "political class" in Westminster was detached from citizens, and pledged to make politics more transparent and open if elected UKIP leader. Rees-Evans caused controversy in 2014 when he claimed that a "gay donkey tried to rape my horse". He later clarified his comments as "playful banter with a mischievous activist" and apologised. A few days later, on 18 October, fellow AM
David Kurten announced his intention to stand. His policies include protecting the
green belt, banning
Sharia law, scrapping
HS2,
Crossrail 2 and a third runway at
Heathrow, introducing
proportional representation for general elections in the UK, and making the
House of Lords a fully elected, smaller second chamber. Two significant UKIP politicians,
Paul Nuttall (former deputy leader) and Suzanne Evans (former deputy chair of UKIP and director of policy for the party, before being expelled following the 2015 general election) entered the contest on 23 October. Nuttall described himself as the "unity candidate" for the party, able to "bring the factions together." Nuttall's message was that UKIP could become the patriotic face of the working class, something shared by Kassam and Whittle. He said that UKIP could fill the "political gap vacated by what's left of the Labour party" under
Jeremy Corbyn, who had "abandon[ed] his principles" over the EU, and promised to hold the government accountable over immigration. His key campaign message was to unify the party and to make the party the true "voice of the common man and woman". Evans caused some disruption with her pledge to end the "Trump-styled rhetoric" in the party. This was seen by some, including former party leader Nigel Farage, as an indirect swipe at Raheem Kassam's campaign (whose logo was 'Make UKIP Great Again' similar to the '
Make America Great Again' of
Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign). Evans has previously stated that she wished to see the UK's defence budget increased, foreign aid budget and energy bills reduced and corporate tax avoiders held accountable for their actions. Two candidates formally withdrew from the contest: Andrew Beadle on 13 October and
Bill Etheridge (who had come third in the previous leadership election) on 26 October. Both argued that Paul Nuttall would be the most suitable candidate for leader, able to unify the party and help it move onto more "fertile ground." A 25 October survey of 91 UKIP councillors for
The Times found 42% supported Nuttall and 22% Evans. Others receiving support were Raheem Kassam (9%), Douglas Carswell and Lisa Duffy (5% each), Patrick O'Flynn (4%), Bill Etheridge (2%) and Peter Whittle (1%). 8% said none of the above. Kassam withdrew from the contest, endorsing Peter Whittle, on 31 October. ==Candidates==