UKIP leader Nick Tenconi was criticised for using a gesture with his right arm which some social media users compared to a ‘Nazi salute’
The leader of UKIP has faced online accusations he used a Nazi salute in a clip he posted.
In a video he shared on social media, Nick Tenconi was seen outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, Portsmouth, performing a gesture with his right arm. Tenconi, a 43-year-old personal trainer, curled his right hand into a fist and put it to his chest before raising his right arm in the air.
The clip also showed Me Tenconi dancing to a ‘L’Amour Toujours’, a hit by Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino released in 1999 that more recently has been used by members of the German far right.
“Turns my stomach that @NickTenconi feels able to throw a Nazi salute on an English street without consequences,” one person wrote. “UKIP leader Nick Tenconi at an anti migrant protest,” another observed, asking “is that a Nazi salute?”.
The Mirror has approached Mr Tenconi for comment.
Mr Tenconi, who was made leader of UKIP in February 2025, is also the COO of Turning Point UK, a right-wing non-profit organisation that says its goal is to “unite people under the banner of personal responsibility, limited government and free market economics”.
Asked about Mr Tenconi’s gesture, Turning Point UK stressed to the Mirror that it is “separate from party politics” and that its COO “did not do a Nazi salute he did a close fisted salute”. The group directed the Mirror to a previous clip of Mr Tenconi raising his right arm with a clenched fist and said it was “similar” to a gesture made by some supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Anti-racism demonstrators have long used a raised fist held straight up in the air as a mark of protest.
Turning Point UK added: “This is nothing more than a ridiculous smear stemming from political opponents who are trying to derail Nick, because they are jealous of his popularity.”
Under the interim leadership of Mr Tenconi, UKIP received 0.02 percent of the vote at the 2024 general election.
The clip posted by Mr Tenconi was captioned “we are sending them home” and comes amid a number of demonstrations against asylum seeker hotels and houses of multiple occupation. On Friday, there were protests in Bristol, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Birmingham among others on Saturday, and Portsmouth, Southampton and Aldershot in Hampshire, Leicester and Altrincham in Cheshire.
A handful of people were arrested at demonstrations in Canary Wharf, in London, and Epping, in Essex, on Friday night.
Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton also marched through the Warwickshire town after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl.
The crowd, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, significantly outnumbered Stand Up to Racism counter-protesters outside Nuneaton’s Town Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Police said the protest was peaceful, with one arrest of a 17-year-old boy.
The protests come after Warwickshire Police said Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, had been charged with rape, while Mohammad Kabir, 23, was charged with kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting rape of a girl under 13 after an alleged incident in Nuneaton.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the youngest council leader in the country, George Finch, who is leader of Warwickshire County Council, claimed there had been a “cover-up” of details about the alleged rape.
Warwickshire Police chief constable Alex Franklin-Smith said the force “did not and will not” cover up alleged criminality and had followed national guidance.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for more transparency from police about suspects, and said it was an “operational decision” for forces and the Crown Prosecution Service over what details to release.
Ms Cooper said “we do think more transparency is needed” in the information given by police.
Mr Farage has suggested he believes the immigration status of suspects charged with crimes should be made available.