• UKIP leader Henry Bolton confirmed the end of his relationship with Jo Marney, 25.
  • It followed media reports on racially-charged discussions of Meghan Markle.
  • Other messages were publicised apparently making light of child abuse

The leader of UKIP has dumped his girlfriend after a series of racist messages and texts allegedly making light of child abuse were made public.

Henry Bolton, 54, ended his relationship with 25-year-old Jo Marney on Sunday night then announced it on the radio the following morning.

Bolton told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme that he had split up with Marney, whom he had been dating for around a month while still married to his wife.

It followed a front-page story by The Mail on Sunday, which published texts in which Marney said that Meghan Markle would “taint” the royal family because of her race.

On Sunday evening The Daily Telegraph published a story describing texts by Marney making light of child abuse, which it termed "too graphic to print."

Bolton made the decision to end their relationship at a similar time.

In his radio interview, Bolton said he had long been informally separated from his wife, whom he said had been living in Austria with his two children since.

He and Marney started dating in late December, he said, adding that he had not been aware of the extent of her views, nor the specific messages published by the media.

Bolton insisted that he would not resign over the relationship. The story is the latest example of chaos surrounding the leadership of UKIP.

Longtime leader Nigel Farage stepped down after the Brexit referendum. One potential successor, Steven Woolfe, was knocked out by a fellow UKIP MEP in a fist-fight inside the European Parliament in the race to succeed Farage.

Diane James, who won the subsequent competition, quite after less than three weeks. Her successor, Paul Nuttall, quit after a poor performance in the 2017 general election, leading to Bolton's election as leader.