UKIP members voted to sack embattled leader Henry Bolton

UKIP members have voted to sack leader Henry Bolton after controversy over racist messages sent by his partner.

The former army officer's fate was decided after 63% voted to back a no confidence motion at an extraordinary general meeting in Birmingham.

He had faced calls to quit after it emerged his partner Jo

Marney sent racist messages about Meghan Markle.

Gerard Batten will take over as interim leader and there will be a leadership election within 90 days.

Following the vote, Mr Bolton, who had been in the job for less than six months, said he had "not finished in politics yet".

He was elected in September in the wake of UKIP's disastrous performance in last year's general election.

The party's national executive committee expressed no confidence in him last month, triggering the ballot.

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Outgoing chairman Paul Oakden said: "Henry Bolton has been removed by the democratic decision of the membership".

Mr Bolton, who lost the no confidence motion by 867 votes to 500, was the party's fourth leader in 18 months.

He had replaced Paul Nuttall, who quit after the general election - which saw UKIP's vote share shrink to 1.8% from 12.6% in 2015.