It was recently announced that our present Leader Neil Hamilton intends to resign after 60 years in politics. National Party Chairman, Ben Walker, made the announcement live on GB News on the 14th January on the Mark Dolan Show.

Ben said that the leadership race was officially beginning and that the rukes had changed in terms of applicants. New rules include that anyone of anytime length can apply, providing they meet the criteria set out in the application process, which can be found at ukip.org. The application fee has been reduced to £1,500, which is non refundable.

Ben went on to say that the position of Leader, which has been an unpaid role for a number of years, will now effectively be paid from this election as the new Leader will be required to source donations for the party which would be split 50/50 between the new Leader and Party Head Office.

This elections will herald a new beginning and new outlook for the party which has seen some stability over the past few years, thanks to Neil after much infighting and changes.

In an event organised by Jack Thomson, UKIP Regional Chairman and Jamie Baker Regional Secretary and National Nominations Officer the awaiting crowd welcomed Anne Marie Waters to Newcastle to speak on the current political situation in the UK.

Anne Marie Waters, UKIP Justice Spokeswoman, showed that she could not subdue her social conscience and live a quiet life away from politics, and she explained to a lively Newcastle audience made up of UKIP members and guests, that she is relaunching her political career, refreshed , revitalised and inspired by what she sees in this crazy world to ensure that the public are protected from the excesses of Government.

In her speech she spelt out the dangers ahead relating to uncontrolled immigration, the spread of segregated sectors of society, the corruption of our society under the banner of "Diversity Equity and Inclusion", the under reported spread of violence as these segregated societies are shored up by a flood of young fighting age men and the role of CO2 propaganda as the key element in the whole chain of events that will lead to tight financial and movement control of citizens.

Anne Marie started by outlining her political life following her qualifying in journalism at Nottingham Trent University followed by a London Law degree whilst working for the NHS. Anne Marie went on to describe her decade with the Labour party during which time she witnessed the gradual shift of Labour from being the party representing the working man to the party with people following a political career path never experiencing the daily chores of the working man they were set up to represent. During her time studying Law she studied in detail the phenomena of Sharia Law which she saw as an anathema to her social and equality values in life and instead of just digesting and ignoring the growth of Sharia Courts in the UK in contravention of UK Law she was moved to take positive steps to alert society to the dangers of the growth of the alternative society within the UK.

She briefly outlined her first spell with UKIP culminating her running a close second to Henry Bolton, but the grassroot membership were aware that Anne Marie had brought hundreds of new members to UKIP who unfortunately were unable to vote due to Party rules, or the result would have likely been a win for Anne Marie. Saddened by this experience, after a period of reflection, she moved on to form the "For Britain" party which despite her charismatic leadership were unable to budge the traditional party machines backed up by their pet mainstream media so reluctantly she decided to retire from politics in July 2022 and as stated earlier, after a period of rest could not contain the passion she holds to do her very best for the future of others in the UK.

The event could have gone on for many more hours but with the pressures of last buses and trains and the approach of pub closing time she expressed her thanks to everyone attending and said that she hoped she had inspired them to support her in her campaign to stand as Parliamentary Candidate in Hartlepool in the next General Election.

REGULAR EVENT: MARCH BRANCH MEETING

WHEN/WHERE: Monday 18th March 2024, 19:00 (7pm), Newcastle upon Tyne

INFO: North East Counties Branch Meeting - see below in article 'Monthly Branch Meetings'

SPECIAL EVENT: HARTLEPOOL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

WHEN/WHERE: Saturday 24th February 2024, 18:00 (6pm), Hartlepool

INFO: Details coming soon.

SPECIAL EVENT: GUEST SPEAKER - FEBRUARY BRANCH MEETING

WHEN/WHERE: Monday 19th February 2024, Newcastle upon Tyne

INFO: We are delighted to announce that we have our first guest speaker of 2024, and this will be UKIP's Defence & Veterans Spokesman - Squadron Leader Peter Richardson (Rt'd) 

We look forward to welcoming Peter to the North East and listen to his story. EVERYONE WELCOME. 

This event is free to attend and will take place at Backworth Club Ltd, Station Road, NE27 0AG. There is free parking and the club is served by local bus services and the Tyne & Wear Metro has a station within a short walk. Go North East bus services 354 and 359 and Stagecoach service 54 operate between Newcastle City Centre and North Shields/Whitley Bay. All services go past Backworth Club. You can get more information by selecting the relevant link www.gonortheast.co.uk, https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/north-east/54/newcastle-haymarket-whitley-bay/xmao054.o or for travel via other methods visit www.nexus.org.uk. 

REGULAR EVENT: Monthly Branch Meetings in 2024

Branch meetings take place every month at 19:00hrs (7pm) on the 3rd Monday of each month (except August) 

Below is the full list for the meetings in 2024, and details of how to get the venue. Many meetings are HYBRID, meaning that members can join us online if travelling to a physical meeting is not possible. Please email the Branch Secretary for full details. 

These events are free to attend for both Members and Guests and will take place at Backworth Club Ltd, Station Road, NE27 0AG. There is free parking and the club is served by local bus services and the Tyne & Wear Metro has a station within a short walk. Go North East bus services 354 and 359 and Stagecoach service 54 operate between Newcastle City Centre and North Shields/Whitley Bay. All services go past Backworth Club. You can get more information by selecting the relevant link www.gonortheast.co.uk, https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/north-east/54/newcastle-haymarket-whitley-bay/xmao054.o or for travel via other methods visit www.nexus.org.uk. 

All members should carry their Membership Cards when attending meetings.                                   

*These meetings are in person only, and the HYBRID option will not be available.

Anne Marie Waters, UKIP Justice Spokeswoman, builds on her return to UKIP with a visit to the North East where she will attend as Guest speaker at the July Branch meeting.

In 2017 Anne Marie brought over a thousand new members to UKIP who unfortunately were not eligible to vote in the leadership contest that year, however she still stood as a UKIP leadership candidate and got sizeable support from UKIP members, seeing her run a close second to Henry Bolton.

Anne Marie will speak with her usual passion and integrity about her life in politics and her return to UKIP and will welcome questions from the audience and respond in her usual forthright down to earth honest manner.

For further details of the event on the evening of the 10th July please send an RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know how many you will bring, along with names. The event is open to both current members, past members and guests and free parking is available on site as well as a Licensed Bar with hot and cold drinks and selected snacks/cakes, so come along for a stimulating get together with other people looking to find a way forward for our troubled nation.

Getting Here:

As well as the extensive free car parking aleady mentioned, the jointly operated Arriva/Stagecoach 54 bus service operates from Newcastle City centre to Whitley Bay and goes via Backworth and stops outside the Club. You can get more information about this service at http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east or for travel via other methods such as Metro visit www.nexus.org.uk 

Backworth Club Ltd,
Station Road,
Backworth
NE27 0AG

Start Time 19:30

So, put the date on your calendar/diary and we look forward to seeing you there.