The former UKIP leader Gerard Batten has been barred from standing for the vacant party leadership post.

UKIP's National Executive Committee (NEC) took the decision not to allow him to stand on Sunday.

A motion was put forward by the NEC which proposed that 'Gerard Batten has brought the party into disrepute by his actions and associations and should therefore not be allowed to stand for the leadership of the party.'

Gerard Batten was also said to have breached UKIP Party Rule H16, which prevents a UKIP member inviting members of proscribed organisations to speak at any UKIP meetings.

Although Gerard Batten invited Tommy Robinson to speak at a UKIP demonstration in December 2018, it is unclear whether this action would have fallen foul of Rule H16.

This is because Tommy Robinson resigned from the leadership of the EDL (which has been designated as a proscribed organisation by UKIP) back in 2014 and is now working as a citizen journalist with TR News Online, which has not and has never been designated as a proscribed organisation.