[11] A key divide between candidates was between what The Guardian described as "Farage-ist economic libertarians" like Etheridge and the "more hard-right, Islam-focused" Anne Marie Waters and Peter Whittle.

[12] In early July, over a thousand new members had joined the party in only two weeks, leading to accusations of far-right infiltration in support of Waters.

[17] The number of candidates fell again on 31 August, to seven, as Ben Walker, David Coburn MEP and Marion Mason all stepped down in order to form a "Victory for the Ukip United" ticket with Jane Collins.

[20][21] Jack Buckby, a former parliamentary candidate for Liberty GB who as a former BNP member is barred from joining UKIP, was reported to be helping Waters in her campaign.

[16] LGBT rights defined another split between those who declared as candidates, with three (Whittle, Waters and Coburn) being openly gay, while David Kurten and John Rees-Evans had both said that they oppose same-sex marriage.

"[24] In August, Rees-Evans announced a proposal to offer £9,000 and health insurance to Britons with dual nationality, in return for them moving to countries where they have the right to settle.

This would be to help achieve "negative net immigration towards one million a year", and would be funded by cutting the foreign aid budget.

[25][26][27] On 24 August, Lawrence Webb, UKIP group leader on Havering London Borough Council and former mayoral candidate, tweeted that he "won’t stand for 2018 local elections if Peter Whittle wins".

[28] The following day, the Romford Recorder reported that all six of Havering Council’s UKIP councillors "will not stand in next year’s local elections if Peter Whittle is named leader of their party".