Watch: Ukip leadership candidate says sorry for ‘gay donkey’ gaffe

Steven Woolfe has said Ukip is in a ‘death spiral’ and on the basis of the latest candidate to join the party’s leadership contest, it seems like he might be right. John Rees-Evans announced this morning that he was throwing his hat in the ring to replace Nigel Farage at the top of the party. Rees-Evans is a relative outsider in the race and few know quite what he stands for. But what is known about the Ukip leadership candidate is that he once accused a ‘gay donkey’ of trying to ‘rape’ his horse. And during his leadership pitch on the Daily Politics, he was keen to try and move on from what he called ‘playful banter with a mischievous activist’. Here’s what he said:

‘No, 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.