Aaron Banks barred from rejoining UKIP

Aaron Banks has been blocked from re-joining UKIP pending the outcome of a meeting with the party's NEC later this month.

Banks' membership was up in January but he failed to renew. He refused to accept Paul Nuttall's landslide victory in the leadership election and when things went badly in Stoke he went full Kilroy and saw it as an opportunity to try and seize power.

Banks wrote an open letter to the NEC pledging to put money into the party and recruit new members but only if he was given the Chairman's job. As chairman he would throw out disruptive influences and anyone briefing against the party. Then he started being disruptive and briefing against the party which prompted the following from Paul Nuttall:

Many of you will have seen the contents of a letter written to me by Arron Banks in February so I feel it is right to share with you my reply to him that was sent earlier this morning. You can read the full letter here:

Dear Arron

I write in reply to your letter to me of 26th February, which has been made public.

As you will know, at the end of November I secured the largest mandate ever given to a Leader of UKIP. This mandate was based on my call for unity within the party, as well as my proposals for reform.

I entirely agree that our party needs to look closely at our brand and how we operate, how we interface with our membership and how we communicate with voters. These are all things I promised to pursue if elected as Leader and I remain committed to those aims.

During the last week I have consulted with several significant supporters and donors who, in addition to our grassroots members, have helped to sustain UKIP’s financial position in recent years. I am pleased to say that they have pledged to continue to support the party going forward as we work to make the changes that are needed.

On Friday, I met with the NEC to discuss the contents of your letter. The NEC resolved to keep open their invitation to you to meet them on 27th March in London to discuss the ideas outlined in your letter. Any and all contributions to our work are welcome. However, I should make clear that, whilst I am open to working with you on improving and enhancing our party, the Party Chairmanship is not on offer.

In addition, whilst the NEC are keen to discuss and examine your ideas, they are concerned about continuing negative and damaging publicity flowing from this matter. Mindful of their primary responsibility to safeguard the reputation of UKIP, they have asked me to tell you that should you choose to further criticise UKIP, its leadership or the elected representatives in either the media or on social media, they will withdraw their invitation.

Finally, I’m also aware that you recently applied to re-join UKIP. The NEC have asked me to make clear that this application will not be processed until you have met with the committee on the 27th.

You have been a great supporter of the Party over the past two and a half years, and a major force in helping to achieve the Leave vote. For this we continue to be grateful and remain hopeful that you will look to work constructively with us as we move towards building UKIP into a real force for change in British politics.

Yours sincerely,


Paul Nuttall MEP
Party Leader

Paul made it very clear that his leadership would be about unity. Aaron Banks is only interested in Aaron Banks. He hasn't got behind the leader or the party and has no intention of doing so. The party is better off without his disruptive influence.