LONDON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Henry Bolton, leader of the British political party UKIP, was fired Saturday after losing a vote of no confidence at a special meeting of members in Birmingham.

By a vote of 867 to 500, members decided to part company with their leader at an extraordinary general meeting.

UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence Party, was established more than 24 years ago to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.

Co-founder Nigel Farage, UKIP's most high profile member who sits as an elected member of the European Parliament, publicly backed Bolton to keep his job as leader.

Bolton came under fire after media details emerged of his relationship with model Jo Marney, which some UKIP members said was a disastrous lack of judgment by Bolton and showed complete disregard for the party's reputation.

Marney has sent a number of racist messages on social media critical of Meghan Markle, fiancee of Queen Elizabeth's grandson, Prince Harry.

Bolton said later he was disappointed by the decision, but he did not rule out making a come-back at a future date.

Saturday's meeting was called following a vote of no confidence in Bolton by the party's national executive committee.

Gerard Batten was named as interim leader, with an election for a new leader to take place within 90 days.

Bolton was only elected last September following UKIP's performance in last year's general election which saw the party's support slump at the ballot box.