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Former soldier and police officer Henry Bolton has been elected UKIP leader - the party's fourth in just over a year.

Mr Bolton, who saw off challenges from better-known contenders, told UKIP members: "Brexit is our core task. However it is not the end of the line."

Controversial anti-Islam candidate Anne Marie Waters finished second. Some MEPs had threatened to quit if she won.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he was delighted and praised Mr Bolton as "a man of real substance".

The party's leadership has been in flux since Mr Farage quit, following the 2016 referendum which saw the UK vote to leave the EU - the issue for which UKIP had long campaigned.

Who is new UKIP leader Henry Bolton?

Mr Bolton's win came as a surprise to some as Sharia Watch founder Ms Waters had been the bookies' favourite and London Assembly member Peter Whittle was considered a front runner. In the end, Mr Bolton won with 30% of the 12,915 votes cast, Ms Waters got 21% and Mr Whittle came in fifth with 11% in a seven-way contest.

The 54-year-old former soldier, who also served with Thames Valley police and has worked for the UN, stood for UKIP as police and crime commissioner in Kent in 2016, coming second. In 2005, he was a parliamentary candidate for the Lib Dems.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption UKIP's chairman says he is “not worried” about any legal action as the party "did our due diligence"

Speaking at the UKIP conference in Torquay, Mr Bolton urged party members to "rally around the party", saying: "Without being united, we cannot lead."

"We can't lead the nation and we can't hold the government to account and we can't achieve our core purpose at all," he said.

He promised to reorganise the party to increase its effectiveness and said he wanted to project UKIP "firmly and decisively into British politics for the good of the nation".

UKIP leadership results

Winner: Henry Bolton, 3,874 votes (29.9%)

Anne Marie Waters, 2,755 votes (21.3%)

David Kurten, 2,201 votes (17%)

John Rees-Evans, 2,021 votes (15.6%)

Peter Whittle, 1,413 votes, (10.9%)

Jane Collins, 566 votes, 4.4%

Aidan Powlesland, 85 votes, 0.65%

Controversy about Ms Waters's candidacy had prompted threats from some MEPs that they would leave the party if she won. BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said Mr Bolton would be seen as the continuity candidate.

UKIP also unveiled a new logo at its conference, replacing its well-known purple pound sign, with a lion - which some, including Gary Lineker, suggested bore a resemblance to that of the Premier League.

Party chairman Paul Oakden told the BBC's Daily Politics he was not worried the similarities might lead to legal issues: "We did our due diligence before we put these logos to the membership and as I said, we are perfectly comfortable."

Former party leader Paul Nuttall quit after the general election, which saw UKIP's vote share shrink to 1.8% from 12.6% in 2015 - the year before the UK voted to leave the European Union.

His predecessor Diane James, who replaced Nigel Farage, lasted just 18 days in the job, saying she did not have enough authority in the party. Mr Farage returned for a spell as interim leader.</s>Who Is Henry Bolton? Meet Ukip’s New Leader

Henry Bolton has been named as the new leader of Ukip following a shock result at the party's conference in Torquay - this is all you need to know about him.

The vote had been billed as a two-way battle between the anti-Islam candidate Anne-Marie Waters and former London Mayoral candidate Peter Whittle.

However, with 29.9 per cent of the party’s vote, Mr Botlon will replace Paul Nuttall, who resigned following the General Election.

Henry Bolton: Everything you need to know.

The former police officer, army officer and UN Governor was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to international security.

Last year he stood as Ukip’s candidate for Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, finishing in second place to the Conservatives.

Most surprisingly he was the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2005 General Election in the Surrey seat of Runnymede and Weybridge.

He landed in third place, behind Labour and the now Chancellor Philip Hammond who stormed to victory with 51.4 per cent of the vote.

The 54-year-old has previously worked as part of the European Commission, in which he worked on building a common foreign security policy.

In 2014, Mr Bolton joined Ukip, saying that he felt more comfortable in a party that said what it thought.

Former Ukip leader and LBC presenter Nigel Farage told LBC he had backed Mr Bolton to become the party's fourth leader in just over a year.

He described Ukip's new chief as a “a guy of achievement and a man of substance”.

Reacting to the result on LBC, he said: "He got my vote that was no doubt at all... There was a time when no one knew who I was, so the fact that he is not well known is not a disqualification at all.

“This is a man with a truly remarkable background. He was the top candidate at Sandhurst, he’s done some remarkable things in the British Army, equally has done some remarkable things in the British police force."</s>There was talk of a civil war and a breakaway if Ukip members elected far-right candidate Anne Marie Waters as leader – and the party faithful heeded the warning.

Members cheered as it was announced that Ms Waters, director of anti-Islam group Sharia Watch, had come second – with relative unknown Henry Bolton, an ex-solider and police officer, winning the contest.

In his opening gambit to the party at its conference in Torquay, Mr Bolton – who was a former Liberal Democrat – told supporters he wanted to unite the party and make it an electoral force once again.

A 54-year-old security and borders consultant, Mr Bolton only joined the party in 2017.

He boasts an impressive CV having advised the Home Office, the United Nations and the European Union after retiring from the army and then the Thames Valley police force.

He was a member of the Liberal Democrats for seven years and even stood against, now Chancellor, Philip Hammond in 2005, coming third.

But he said he joined Ukip because he felt more comfortable in a party that said what it thought.

Last year he was Ukip's candidate for Kent Police and Crime Commissioner – the county where he lives with his wife and three children – but lost out to Conservative Matthew Scott.

What is the new leader promising?

Being a surprise winner, Mr Bolton has yet to formulate all his policy ideas. At a press conference directly after his victory, he vowed to unite the party after its recent internal civil war.

He also suggested that Ukip needed to “stop focusing” on issues like Islam and the burqa – a tactic ex-leader Paul Nuttall deployed at the snap election.

“I deplore the rhetoric that says we are at war with Islam,” he told journalists. “We need to move away from focusing on Islam”.

Mr Bolton clarified, though, that he was “very firm in preserving Britain and the British way of life”.

He also said he was “not Nigel [Farage]” and that he was his “own person and that will become apparent”.

What reaction did the announcement receive?

Members at the conference were visibly relieved at the news that Mr Bolton had defeated Ms Waters.

Nigel Farage was rumoured to be considering setting up a rival party if Ms Waters won and MEPs were expected to defect to join him.

Instead, Hull-based MEP Mike Hookem said the party could move forward under Mr Bolton’s leadership.

“It is an excellent result,” said Mr Hookem. “He was the man I was backing and the man with the vision for the party.

“He has the record to carry that through – his CV stood out.”

Mr Hookem, the party’s fisheries spokesman, said he had been “very concerned” about the prospects of Ms Waters taking the reins.

“I have had sleepless nights about the thought of her taking over the party,” he admitted.

“But I had faith in the membership – that Doris and George of the party, who aren’t on social media, would read about the candidates and make up their minds. And they made the right choice.”

Will UKIP continue to target voters on the Humber?

Under the leadership of Nigel Farage, the party had managed to make huge inroads into the Labour Party’s traditional heartlands.

That proved true in Grimsby where the party came gained an additional 6,000 votes during the 2015 general election.

But at the 2017 election, under Paul Nuttall’s leadership, the party fared far worse, seeing their vote share drop by 20 per cent.

Mr Bolton, when quizzed by the Grimsby Telegraph in Torquay, was reluctant to commit to targeting the Labour vote in working class cities.

He said any targeting of seats would be “based on sound analysis” but would saying nothing firmer than that.

Can UKIP’s new leader revive their fortunes?

If Mr Bolton’s first press conference was anything to base his leadership on, then he will be a sensible head for the party.

He had warned that Ukip risked becoming the UK’s “Nazi Party” if Ms Waters has won, and, in some supporters’ eyes, he has already done enough to be regarded as a success just by stopping her in her tracks.

Mr Bolton is to the right on the political spectrum but his calls to move away from a near obsession with Islam, his promise of party reform and his putting down of a marker that any future donors (read: millionaire Leave.EU founder Arron Banks) must respect his future vision, he has shown that he wants to smooth UKIP’s unelectable rough edges.

Mr Bolton has said previously that he wants to continue Mr Farage’s legacy and lead a popular Eurosceptic party which backs Brexit.

Farage had a charisma that Mr Bolton lacks. But in a post-Brexit world, where the nitty-gritty will be poured over for years, an expert who knows the issues of security, migration and the internal workings of the EU inside out could be of real benefit.</s>Mass immigration and Islam are harming British culture - but there should be no cap on the number of migrants who can come to the country, Ukip's new leader has said.

Henry Bolton won the race to succeed Paul Nuttall on Friday, averting a potential split of the party by defeating anti-Islam candidate Anne Marie Waters, who finished second in the leadership election.

In a sign of the need to unite the party, the little-known former Army officer used his keynote speech to the party conference in Torquay to declare that the present rate of immigration is "unacceptable" and claim British culture was being "swamped" by multiculturalism.

He called for an Australian-style points-based system for managing migration, but in a major shift of Ukip's position abandoned the party's pledge to cap net migration.

Mr Bolton told the conference: "Immigration is overwhelming our public services, which themselves are being slashed - 25% off the police, for example, in some cases nearly 50% off local government.

"Housing and communities are being overwhelmed, it is harming our own culture, traditions and way of life.

"We must demand that our own concerns about our own British culture are heard and that that feeds into our policy on immigration."

Earlier, he told reporters: "There is concern amongst the population writ large that there is an undermining through general immigration and the weight of numbers that we have got, and Islam as well, that our culture is being buried by this, being sort of pushed aside."

But he also watered down Ukip's promises in 2015 and 2017 to cap immigration, despite Prime Minister Theresa May remaining committed to a target of reducing net migration to the "tens of thousands".

Ukip party leader Henry Bolton speaks during the Ukip National Conference at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

Mr Bolton told reporters: "Anybody who says 'put a figure on it' is actually being entirely unrealistic and trying to paint politicians like me into a corner that gives you a nice thing to hang a comment on, but you're not going to get it from me because actually we need to be a lot more practical and operational about it."

The ex-soldier opened his speech with a clear pitch to former Ukip voters who backed the Tories in the general election, suggesting Mrs May had betrayed them on Brexit.

The PM's promise that "Brexit means Brexit" and her approach to the issue was thought to be a key factor in Ukip's vote share tumbling to 1.8% from 12.6% in 2015.

Mr Bolton described a transition period as proposed by the Conservatives and Labour as "unacceptable" and said Britain must be "prepared" to leave the European Union immediately.

He claimed Mrs May's Florence speech, in which she set out plans for a two-year transition and made a first offer towards a financial settlement, showed "the UK does not want to leave the EU in anything but name".

The PM's promise of a security partnership with the EU showed she was prepared to "subordinate" the UK's foreign policy, defence and aid to Brussels, Mr Bolton said.

"We must demand the repeal of the European Communities Act and be prepared to leave now," he said.

Mr Bolton added: "The Prime Minister called the last general election, in her own words, 'to strengthen my hand in the Brexit negotiations'.

Ukip party leader Henry Bolton following his speech during the Ukip National Conference at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

"She claimed that she offered 'strong and stable' leadership.

"The country and many of our supporters trusted her and the Conservatives won the election.

"So, 14 months after the referendum, have we regained control of our borders?

"Are we able to conclude our own trade agreements?

"We have not, no."

Staying on traditional Ukip territory, Mr Bolton attacked the Government's cuts to defence spending, claiming 1,000 Royal Marines were being axed to save Â£3 billion to go towards the so-called Brexit "divorce bill".

He said 13 of the Navy's 19-strong fleet of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers were unable to sail due to a lack of manpower, fuel and supplies, and he drew audible gasps from the crowd when stating "we have fewer main battle tanks than Switzerland".

Turning to Ukip's electoral failure, Mr Bolton set out plans to select candidates earlier, improve planning and training across the party and country, and better manage finances.

He ditched the 2017 manifesto and said 2015's version would be used as a "baseline", while members will be given a role in policy-making, with the party's conference to vote on ideas.

Mr Bolton concluded: "Brexit remains our core task and to secure the future of our great nation is our core purpose.

"Failure is not an option."</s>UKIP has announced its fourth leader in a year after Paul Nuttall quit following a disastrous set of council elections for the party.

Henry Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat candidate in 2005, beat six others to lead the party, which seemed on brink of collapse during the election period.

But in a political race no one was talking about, with a candidate who came from behind, what do we really know about the new leader?

Bolton is a former tank soldier who nearly became Kent's Police Commissioner, coming second behind Tory Matthew Scott.

He ran on the campaign slogan: "Delivering Change, Delivering BREXIT and Delivering Britain"

But his wife actually made more headlines than he did - Tatiana Smurova-Bolton, 41, gave birth to their baby daughter on a train.

She went into labour on the 3.43pm Southeastern service from Ashford to St Pancras in London last year.

Bolton won the backing of former leader Nigel Farage, who tweeted his delight at the result this afternoon.

Bolton was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to International Security, having working on roles related to border management strategy.

He served in Bosnia in the 1990s, investigated war crimes in Kosovo and directed a cease-fire monitoring in Macedonia.

After his time in the army, he served as a police officer in the Thames Valley force for eight years, where he was awarded for outstanding bravery.

Writing in the Express earlier this month, he said: "Left-wing extremism is as real and present as right-wing and religious extremism and is equally oppressive, violent and dangerous.

"If we allow the left to redefine our history, they will dictate our future and you will be given little choice in the matter."

In 2005, he fought the Runnymede and Weybridge seat in Surrey for the Liberal Democrats, but joined UKIP in 2014.

He lives in Folkestone, Kent with his wife and three children, and is said to be a keen ultra-marathon runner.

Bolton took 29.9 per cent of overall votes taking 3,874 votes.

The latest leadership vote nearly sent the party into meltdown, with members saying they would leave if far-right Anne Marie Walters clinched victory.

Farage - who's been forced to deny claims he would set up a new party - was not even due to turn up to the result at Torquay's EU-funded Riviera Conference Centre.

He warned UKIP will be "finished" if Waters had won while a string of MEPs say they are poised to walk out.

With just 15,000 or so members voting, any one of six of the seven candidates could win with a tiny mandate that wouldn't even get their £5,000 deposits back.

It is understood party officials tried to change the first-past-the-post voting system to ensure the winner wouldn't have a tiny mandate, but one candidate vetoed the idea.

The crisis comes after UKIP's 4million votes collapsed to fewer than 600,000 in the general election.

Shock UKIP leadership result as anti-Islam activist Anne Marie Waters loses to outside candidate Henry Bolton

It is understood party officials tried to change the first-past-the-post voting system to ensure the winner wouldn't have a tiny mandate, but one candidate vetoed the idea.

The crisis comes after UKIP's 4million votes collapsed to fewer than 600,000 in the general election.

The party will vote on two options of a rebrand which is expected to see the party drop its yellow and purple branding in a bid to bring the party back to life.

Yet UKIP will flirt with more far-right thinking after it invited Dr Hugh Bronson, a British-German representative of the nationalist, anti-Islam, AfD party, to speak on the conference main stage this afternoon.

Ms Marie Waters is an ally of former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and the pair launched a UK branch of the anti-Islam group Pegida.

She has called Islam "evil" and declared the entire religion a "killing machine" during the launch of her campaign to a right-wing rally.

Her campaign was aided by Jack Buckby, an ex-BNP member who outraged locals in murdered MP Jo Cox's constituency by standing to replace her and declaring she had been "more interested in solidarity with Palestinian people than gang rape" by Asian men.

UKIP member of three years Derek Walker, from Burton-on-Trent, wore a T-shirt protesting against Anne Marie Waters outside the conference centre this morning.

He said her campaign had "smatterings of Goebbels", adding: "If she wins I'm out."</s>Henry Bolton has been elected as the new leader of Ukip in a shock result.

The little-known candidate beat the two front runners in the contest – anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters and London Assembly member Peter Whittle – to win with 3,874 votes.

He told the party members: “Brexit is our core task, however, it is not the end of the line.”

The former Army officer warned earlier this month that Ukip was in danger of becoming the “UK Nazi Party” if it picked the wrong leader to succeed Paul Nuttall, in comments which appeared to be aimed at Ms Waters.

In his victory speech at Ukip conference in Torquay, he called on members to rally around the party.

“Without being united, we cannot lead,” he said.

The party has struggled to find its feet since Nigel Farage quit, and its vote share fell to 1.8% at the general election from 12.6% in 2015.

Some 12,915 votes were cast in the leadership election, a 46% turnout.

Mr Whittle, who had been touted as a likely winner, came a surprise fifth with 1,413 – an 11% share of the vote – while Ms Waters came second with 2,755 votes, a 21% vote share.

Up to 18 of the 20 Ukip MEPs had been reportedly preparing to quit the party if Ms Waters had won the leadership battle.

Mr Bolton called on the party to unite behind him to allow him to deliver its aims.

He said: “I do not see myself now as simply being your leader, I see myself as serving this party. You are the party, not me, and this party needs to serve its country.

“There is no greater calling than that and I would call on all of you, whether you voted for me or not, to rally around the party, to be united.”

Mr Farage said he was “delighted” Mr Bolton had won the leadership battle.

“He is a man of real substance,” the former leader added.</s>UKIP has saved itself from becoming the "UK Nazi Party", its new leader declared tonight after he beat a candidate who branded Islam "evil" and a "killing machine".

Barely-known ex-Army officer Henry Bolton, 54, won a shock victory over Anne Marie Waters to become the anti-EU party's fourth leader in just a year with 3,874 votes to her 2,755.

UKIP politicians and staff had threatened a mass walkout if Ms Waters won - and roars of approval engulfed UKIP's conference in Torquay, Devon, when she lost.

An ex-cop and security consultant from Folkestone, Kent, Mr Bolton was a Lib Dem but joined UKIP four years ago.

He has three children, one aged 32 from his Danish first wife and two aged four and one from his Russian-born wife Tatiana Smurova-Bolton, 42.

Scroll down for the result in full

The couple hit headlines last year when Tatiana gave birth to their youngest daughter on a high-speed train from Ashford to London.

"I didn't have any pain relief," said Tatiana, who named the baby Victoria after the station, at the time. "It was extremely painful but the moment she came out all pain just stopped at once."

Mr Bolton said he would ditch the party's divisive "integration agenda", including a burqa ban, that helped slash UKIP's vote tally from 4million to just 600,000 in June.

Asked if UKIP had avoided becoming the UK Nazi Party he said "absolutely yes", telling members: "We want to be a nation that is proud to be called British."

But he warned "there is an issue with full face coverings" and said he had to "preserve the British way of life", adding: "I think Islam is of concern."

And in a blow to transgender rights he said "we are encouraging children in some cases to question their own sexuality," adding: "I think that is certainly going too far."

Ex-leader Nigel Farage, who did not turn up to the EU-funded Riviera Conference Centre, said was was "delighted" that "a man of real substance" had won after warning UKIP would be "finished" under Ms Waters.

Mr Bolton said he hoped Mr Farage would "continue to contribute" and would welcome back mega-donor Arron Banks as long as he backed the party's direction.

Today's conference saw UKIP members cheer as Dr Hugh Bronson of the far-right German nationalist party AfD gave a speech.

UKIP leader says people have every right to black up for charity and it's 'Thought Crime' to stop them

Interim leader Steve Crowther was also cheered for demanding people have the right to black up for charity after police probed a carnival float in Aberaeron, Wales.

But Mr Bolton condemned a leaflet at the conference which compared the gay "lifestyle" to that of Hitler and the Yorkshire Ripper.

The leaflet by Christian UKIP activists from Northern Ireland said: "You may call it an 'alternative lifestyle', but this term is meaningless. Everyone from Hitler to the Yorkshire Ripper could claim an alternative lifestyle that, to themselves, no doubt seemed quite natural and instinctive."

Mr Bolton said the leaflet was "wrong, unpleasant and has no place in UKIP or at this conference."

Mr Bolton stood for leader after Paul Nuttall quit following June's dismal election result. Before him Nigel Farage had to stand in when Diane James lasted only 18 days.

Of the other five candidates David Kurten won 2,201 votes, John Rees Evans won 2,021, Peter Whittle won 1,413, Jane Collins won 566 and Aidan Powlesland, who wanted to mine the moons of Jupiter, won 85.</s>Henry Bolton has been elected to become Ukip’s fourth leader within a year. A former soldier and police officer, Bolton won a tight seven-way race, taking 29.9% (3,874) of the overall votes. He is now tasked with charting a new direction for the party after the EU referendum. The results for the leadership race were announced on the first day of Ukip’s annual conference in Torquay</s>Henry Bolton has been elected as the new leader of Ukip, becoming the party's fourth leader in just over a year.

He replaces Paul Nuttall who resigned after the General Election.

The little-known candidate beat the two front runners in the contest - anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters and London Assembly member Peter Whittle - to win with 3,874 votes.

Addressing party members, he said: "Brexit is our core task, however, it is not the end of the line.

"When we leave the European Union, that is not the end of the story. We're leaving the European Union because we as a nation want to have that right of self determination.

"We want to be responsible for our own destiny, not decided in a foreign capital."</s>Henry Bolton's surprise election as UKIP leader marks one of the most meteoric rises in British politics in recent years.

The former army officer turned security consultant only joined the party in 2014 and, until recently, was scarcely a household name within UKIP let alone national politics.

Although he started out the leadership campaign trail as a relative outsider, he steadily gained a series of endorsements from other contenders as they dropped out.

Crucially, he received a nod from Nigel Farage, who was anxious not to see Anne Marie Waters, an anti-Islam campaigner and the bookies' favourite, win the contest.

It was not an outright endorsement - Mr Farage merely agreed to act as his "political referee" - but the best known former UKIP leader said he was "delighted" by Mr Bolton's victory, describing him on Twitter as "real man of substance".

Mr Bolton beat Ms Waters into second place in the contest, winning with nearly 4,000 of the 12,915 votes cast.

The new UKIP leader has been on a long political journey, having stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate against the future Chancellor Philip Hammond in Weybridge and Runnymede in 2005, coming third with 7,000 votes, soundly beating UKIP's candidate.

The 54-year-old, who was born in Kenya, was commissioned in the Wessex Regiment in the Territorial Army in 1992, and promoted to captain in 1994.

He served as a infantry officer and tank crewman in Germany, Belize, Cyprus and Bosnia.

In 2013, he was awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours "for services to international security and stabilisation" during a tour of duty in Helmand, Afghanistan - where he served as stabilisation team leader, of the provincial reconstruction team.

He also worked for the United Nations and spent three years working with the European Union in Common Security and Defence Policy roles.

After leaving the army, for eight years he was a police officer in the Thames Valley force, during which time he received an award for outstanding bravery.

In 2016, he stood for the post of Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, finishing in second place.

Mr Bolton has insisted he is committed to the job for the long term and not merely keeping the seat warm for Nigel Farage to make yet another return.

He has said seeing Brexit through and delivering on the wishes of those who voted to leave is its "core task" but, at the same time, he has said UKIP cannot be a single issue party.

He faces a tough task in trying to heal the wounds caused by a divisive leadership contest.

Speaking to Ken News during the campaign he warned against UKIP turning itself into the "UK Nazi party" under the "wrong leadership".

"Ukip was set up to fight the 'totalitarian' effects of EU influence on British society," he added.

"Therefore, I will not sit back and watch the party be hijacked by those who seek to now seize on our success to drive forward their own agenda."

In his victory speech he quoted a motto from the Sandhurst Military Academy, from which he graduated, insisting that his intention was to "serve to lead". He has said he does not expect to be paid in the role.

He lives in Kent with his wife Tatiana and his three children, the youngest of whom was born during a train journey between Kent and London in 2016.

He is chairman of the Manston Airport supporters group Why Not Manston.
Henry Bolton wins UKIP leadership, taking over the position from Paul Nuttall, who resigned after the party's poor performance in the last general election.