‘Gay donkey raped my horse’ candidate running for UKIP leader
A politician who famously complained about a “homosexual donkey” trying to rape his horse has announced his bid for UKIP leader.
The pro-Brexit UK Independence Party is currently gearing up for its second leadership election of the year, after leader Diane James stood down after 18 days.
The party has been in a state of turmoil after frontrunner Steven Woolfe quit the party altogether – with Parliamentary spokesperson Suzanne Evans, former deputy Paul Nuttall, and right-wing Breitbart UK editor Raheem Kassam currently the frontrunners.
Today another politician joined the race – former UKIP Parliamentary candidate John Rees-Evans, who is most famous for his outlandish comments about a gay donkey.
Mr Rees-Evans made the bizarre comments outside the opening of a new UKIP shop in Merthyr in 2014.
Protesters read him a quotation from former UKIP Oxford chair Dr Julia Gasper, who claimed homosexuals prefer sex with animals.
He claimed: “Actually I’ve witnessed that. I was personally quite amazed.
“I’ve got a horse, it was in the fields, and a donkey came up – my horse is a stallion.
“A donkey came up which is male, and I’m afraid tried to rape my horse.
“My horse bit the side of the donkey, and I had to give my horse a slap to protect the donkey.”
He added: “In this case [she’s] obviously correct… but I don’t think that’s what it meant, it’s just a bizarre coincidence.”
A protester assured him footage of the rant was “all going up on YouTube tomorrow”.
The candidate inisted at the time that as a libertarian, he has “no position to declare that one particular form of sexual appetite is any more legitimate than any other.”
He added: “My own background is quite traditional. For me, any kind of non-conventional relationship that people have, I would say I don’t really understand the attraction, but we are a libertarian party.
“People can do pretty much anything they like in the privacy of their own homes as long as it doesn’t affect other people.”
His leadership website explains: “John enjoys spending time with his family, particularly walking in the hills or visiting castles and historic sites.
“He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, regularly participates in adventurous expeditions, and enjoys hill-running, cycling, motorcycling, mountaineering and competitive dynamic pistol shooting.
“To maintain physical fitness, in spite of maintaining an exacting schedule, he frequently runs in the hills that overlook Cynon Valley, and cycles instead of driving when possible.”
Asked about the donkey comments today, he accused the BBC’s Jo Coburn of trying to “trivialise” his leadership bid.
He said: “It’s really interesting what you are doing because I’m trying to tell you my serious vision for UKIP and you keep trivialising it.
“I would be so appreciative if you could please just understand the concept I am trying to communicate with your viewers and that is, according to the plan I have for UKIP is going to grow.”
Challenged again, he said: “I concede it was a mistake to be playful with an activist in the street.
“The fact is I’m not a politician, the guy was just asking me questions in the street. It was an error of judgement. I was very early coming into politics.”
