Under the leadership of Henry Bolton, party membership was understood to have fallen to around 18,000 by January 2018. During Batten's interim leadership term, the party avoided insolvency after a financial appeal to members. As the new permanent leader, Batten focused the party more on opposing Islam, which he described as a "death cult", was criticised as an "explicitly far-right party" after they invited Paul Joseph Watson as a spokesman, sought closer relations with the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and his followers., and made Muslim-only prisons party policy (which was criticised as "the first step to Muslim concentration camps"). The party saw its membership rise by 15% in July 2018, following the publication of the Chequers Agreement and allowing three prominent far-right activists to join the party. Previous leader Nigel Farage stated he was "really upset" that Robinson could be allowed into the party and that he believed Gerard Batten was marginalising the party.