UKIP leader in Coventry resigns to join another party

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The leader of UKIP in Coventry has resigned and revealed to the Telegraph that he has already joined another party.



Mark Taylor stood for UKIP in Coventry South during the General Election and finished third, pulling in nearly 6,000 votes.

But he has now left the party, despite recently being re-installed as UKIP chairman in Coventry following selection drama ahead of the General Election.

The Telegraph revealed in February that senior UKIP bosses asked Mr Taylor to step aside as the party’s candidate for Coventry South ahead of the General Election, to make way for controversial ‘pop preacher’ George Hargreaves. He agreed, but also resigned as chairman of Coventry UKIP. However, local pressure from UKIP members saw plans to parachute in Mr Hargreaves later abandoned and Mr Taylor re-installed.

Mr Taylor said that incident was partly responsible for his decision to leave, but that he also disagreed with the direction the party had taken nationally.

He said: “I have left UKIP. I was brought back in as chairman recently, but I think I can’t take Coventry UKIP any further.

“I decided to go partly because of the George Hargreaves issue. The party is great but it is not quite listening to its membership in the way it was before.”

Mr Taylor also hit out at national party leader Nigel Farage, who is understood to have played a role in the move to bring Mr Hargreaves to Coventry.

He said: “How people perceive the party on the door step is important. People want UKIP, but I think Nigel Farage, as the face of UKIP, puts a lot of people off.”

Mr Taylor told the Telegraph he intended to return to politics locally, and political sources in Coventry suggest Mr Taylor has joined the Conservative Party.

He said: “I have already joined another party and I have discussions and interviews lined up with them. I will reveal which party that is in the next few days.”

He added: “I think the General Election campaign was a time of discovery for me and I have to acknowledge that there was some UKIP policy we were being asked to express that I wasn’t in agreement with – such as cuts to overseas international aid.”

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New UKIP leader chosen for Coventry


Harjinder Sehmi (vice chairman, left) with Rhiannon Ellis from UKIP's Young Independence youth wing and Mike Ellis (right)

The new head of UKIP in Coventry has been chosen following the defection of the previous leader to the Conservative Party.

Mike Ellis has been installed as chairman of UKIP Coventry on a full time basis after he initially filled the role on a temporary basis following the defection of Mark Taylor to the Tories.

Mr Ellis said: “It came as a bit of a surprise really. It will give me the opportunity to engage more with the membership.

“Since the General Election, we have realised we are the only real serious alternative for a lot of people in Coventry. We hope to build on that.”

Mr Ellis said the party would push for electoral reform, protect greenbelt, reduce councillors and bring hospital car parks into public ownership.

Asked about the loss of Mr Taylor to the Conservatives, Mr Ellis said: “I was sad to see him go. But mark has got a boat to row and I’m not his coxswain.”

Harjinder Sehmi, who stood for UKIP in Coventry North West at the General Election, has become the party’s vice chairman.

He said: “Mike is a hard worker. He’s attracted a lot of new members.”

He added: “Next year we are aiming to take at least five or six council seats.”

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Former Coventry UKIP leader Mark Taylor leaves Conservatives over 'evil' benefit cuts



THE FORMER leader of Coventry UKIP, who left the party to join the Conservatives, has now left the Tory party.

Mark Taylor announced on Twitter that he has cancelled his full membership to the Conservative party, just a year after joining the party.

Tweeting to his followers on Wednesday morning (November 6): “And so, with one final call to Conservative membership, i have just said goodbye to membership of the Conservative party.

“It’s been fun.”

“Some good things in Conservative land but I don’t agree with the recent full cuts to those on benefits.”

The former Coventry UKIP chairman stood in Coventry South in the 2015 General Election, but left the party just weeks after garnering 6,000 votes and coming in third place behind Conservative councillor Gary Ridley and incumbent Labour MP Jim Cunningham.

Mr Taylor stood aside on account of ‘selection drama’ which saw him nearly replaced as the party candidate by UKIP bosses, who wanted to replace him with former pop music producer-turned anti-gay Christian preacher George Hargreaves.

He agreed to stand down, but pressure from local UKIP members saw the plans abandoned and Mr Taylor stand in the constituency.

Explaining his decision to leave the Conservatives, he told the Observer: “The local Tories in Coventry are good people who have real concern for their city.

“But while I was with them I felt I haven’t been able to be myself.

“One of the main reasons for me leaving is the Conservative’s recent changes to the benefit cap, which I believe are just evil.”

Mr Taylor said he agreed with some Conservative policies, including the increased living wage, but says he sees him self as more ‘left-ish’ than the party’s aims – though not as left-wing as the direction of the Labour party, he added.

He also said he was against HS2 and the introduction of a metro mayor for Coventry under the new West Midlands Combined Authority.

“For now, I will have a temporary gap from politics while I have a rethink,” Mr Taylor said.

“One of the reasons I left UKIP was because I felt that it was a party of two tribes – the disgruntled Tories who were fed up with David Cameron, and the Labour supporters who were equally fed up with their party.

“But I have spoken to a few UKIP people and think that it could become a party that will appeal to people from many parties.

“I’d still like to be involved in politics and I am now looking for a party which has a heart for people in need or wants to help them.”