A SENIOR Ukip figure is no longer chairman of the Lambeth and North Croydon branch after the party announced it was suspending the role yesterday.

Winston McKenzie, the party’s Commonwealth spokesman, has lost the title while an investigation is carried out.

The former boxer, who earlier this week compared party leader Nigel Farage to Jesus, will remain Ukip’s general election candidate in Croydon North.

Ukip said the branch had been suspended but declined to say what the inquiry would look into, insisting it does not comment on internal investigations.

The suspension comes after a letter of no confidence in Mr McKenzie was backed by a number of members, according to the Croydon Advertiser.

Mr McKenzie has regularly hit the headlines for his outspoken views, including describing placing children for adoption with same-sex couples as “unhealthy” and “tantamount to child abuse.”

During a Ukip carnival held in Croydon earlier this year that quickly descended into chaos, he described the area as “unsafe and a dump.”

A Ukip spokesman said: “The Lambeth and North Croydon branch of Ukip has been suspended, along with its officers, pending the outcome of an internal inquiry into its activities.