UKIP county leader in dispute with national chairman

While UKIP has issued a statement saying that Coun Chris Pain has been suspended by the party, the councillor told the Boston Standard this is not the case.

Coun Pain, who won the Wainfleet and Burgh county seat in May, said he has lodged a complaint against UKIP national chairman Steve Crowther.

He said the matter may be subject to legal action and did not wish to discuss it further.

However he said this is a dispute with Mr Crowther alone and that he has no issue with the party as a whole.

Coun Pain remains leader of the opposition at Lincolnshire County Council and is set to contest the Boston and Skegness parliamentary seat in 2015.

He said: “As far as I’m concerned I am going to be campaigning for UKIP, that’s not an issue. But this (the complaint) is a matter that needs clarifying.”

He told The Standard that he understands his complaint will be handled by party bosses in October.

The news comes a day after the police dropped an investigation into claims that he and fellow UKIP members made racist posts on social networking websites.

Coun Pain said it was ‘sad’ that political opponents had tried to label him a racist.

He said: “I’ve got friends of all nationalities, creeds and colours. It’s something you can’t throw at me to be fair.

“We should debate a point of view and whether you agree or not it should be about politics.”

He says he feels he was subject of a ‘smear campaign’ and is weighing up taking legal action against the people who lodged the complaint against him with the police.