Ukip’s most high-profile donor has backed a former aide to Nigel Farage for the party leadership amid speculation ex-deputy leader Paul Nuttall was poised to enter the race.

Insurance tycoon Arron Banks said he was backing Raheem Kassam for the leadership “despite Paul Nuttall running” for the job.

Nuttall has yet to publicly declare if he will stand in the contest, having declined to stand in the previous leadership race earlier this year.

The present leadership contest was triggered when Diane James quit after just 18 days in charge and has been thrown wide open after frontrunner Steven Woolfe quit in the wake of an altercation with a fellow MEP.

Kassam, an ex-chief of staff to Farage, welcomed the support offered by Mr Banks, the co-founder of the Leave.EU Brexit campaign.

He said: “This is a major endorsement from someone who has been one of the driving forces behind Ukip in recent years.

“Banks ploughed his personal time and money into the referendum campaign and the party, and for those wondering whether he still stood with Ukip, this is a very clear sign: he does, under a Kassam leadership.

“I’d like to thank Arron for the brave and important support, and I look forward to working with him to make Ukip great again.”

Banks said on Twitter: “I’ve been very impressed with Raheem’s ideas, despite Paul Nuttall running I think he’s the candidate to beat. He’s got my support.”

The new Ukip leader will be announced on 28 November, with nominations to replace Ms James closing on 31 October.

Another potential leadership contender, former deputy chairman Suzanne Evans, is listed to appear on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, fuelling speculation she will enter the race. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption UKIP's Suzanne Evans announces leadership candidacy

Suzanne Evans and Paul Nuttall have announced they are to run for the leadership of UKIP, with both promising to unite the troubled party.

Ms Evans said she would make the party less "toxic" and aim to occupy the "common sense centre" ground.

Mr Nuttall, like Ms Evans an ex-party chairman, said he was the man to "bring the factions together".

However, interim leader Nigel Farage, speaking about Ms Evans, said: "I won't be voting for her."

The party has been in turmoil since the referendum in June, when the UK voted to leave the EU.

Mr Farage stood down as leader at the start of July saying he had achieved his political ambition. His successor Diane James resigned earlier this month after only 18 days in the job - leading to Mr Farage's return as interim leader.

Last week, Steven Woolfe, who had been one of the front-runners to replace Ms James, quit the party a few days after being involved in an altercation with fellow MEP Mike Hookem.

Ms Evans told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that she hoped to "pour oil on troubled water" after there had been "a bit too much testosterone" in UKIP.

She said focusing on the centre ground meant "not the wishy washy Lib Dem centre" but a party capable of taking votes from both left and right.

She also accused leadership rival Raheem Kassam of seeking to take the party too far to the right and added: "Our 2015 general election manifesto took the best of politics from the left and from the right".

Analysis

By Political Correspondent Alan Soady

Paul Nuttall described himself as the "unity candidate". Yet today's skirmishes show how much UKIP is riven by feuding factions.

This leadership contest is about much more than choosing an individual.

It's about deciding the future of a party which has been dominated for so long by Nigel Farage and focussed for years on getting - and winning - an EU referendum.

While the next leader will want to make sure the government delivers the kind of Brexit UKIP wants, there are longer-term existential questions.

These are: how the party stays relevant, what positions it takes on all sorts of other policy areas, and where it places itself on the political spectrum.

So far, the signs are the battle for the future could be a bloody one.

However, Mr Farage, speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday, said she would not be receiving his vote, adding: "I don't doubt she has ability, it's just a question of political direction and to kick off her campaign decrying one of the declared candidates is not what we needed."

He also dismissed Ms Evans' views that the party should be in the centre ground, saying: "UKIP is a radical political party that pushes for change and needs to go on being a radical political party."

Mr Kassam responded to Ms Evans' accusation on Twitter, saying: "It is sad that 60 seconds after she launched her campaign on the BBC, Suzanne Evans attacked me and my thousands of supporters as 'far right'."

In a fuller email sent to Ms Evans, he added: "I would hereby request that you cease referring to vast swatches of UKIP as 'far right' and embark upon a positive campaign, structured upon not who you are against, but what you are for."

Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Mr Kassam also said he wanted to unite the party and added: "I think now, especially after that incident with Steven Woolfe in the European Parliament, we have to say this has gone too far.

"We are all in the same party and if we wish to remain in the same party let's sit down around a table together."

Nominations in the current leadership election close on 31 October, with the eventual winner announced on 28 November.

Mr Nuttall said that he had decided to stand for the leadership after the troubles of the past few months, telling Andrew Neil on the BBC's Sunday Politics: "UKIP needs to come together. At the moment it is looking over the edge of a political cliff and it will either step off or step back. I want to be the candidate who will tell us to come backwards."

Explaining why, when he didn't stand for the leadership earlier in the year, Mr Nuttall said: "I felt that with Brexit that my job and Nigel's job was done and we could hand over to the next generation.

"But that doesn't appear to have been the case and maybe it's time for someone who's an older hand in many ways."

He added: "We need a strong UKIP there in the background to ensure that Brexit means Brexit and I believe that UKIP can become the patriotic face of working people."

Confirmed UKIP leadership contenders </s> LONDON (AP) — Two rival candidates announced bids Sunday to lead Britain’s fractious right-wing U.K. Independence Party — both warning that UKIP faces extinction if it doesn’t change.

Suzanne Evans, a former journalist who has clashed with longtime leader Nigel Farage, said UKIP must shed its “toxic image” and move from the right to the “common-sense center.”

Evans told the BBC that “at times there has been too much testosterone in UKIP,” and said the party could not win if it moved to the far right.

Paul Nuttall, a former UKIP deputy leader, said he would be a unity candidate to save a party that was “looking over the edge of a political cliff.”

“I believe that I am the man to bring the factions together,” Nuttall told the BBC.

Nuttall served as deputy to Farage, but distanced himself from the outgoing leader’s support of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“I personally wouldn’t have gone out and campaigned or said anything about Donald Trump,” Nuttall said, branding both Trump and Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton “quite appalling.”

A small anti-European Union party, UKIP was instrumental in getting Britain to hold a referendum on EU membership, which ended in a June 23 vote to leave the 28-nation bloc.

The result was a political triumph for UKIP; Farage stepped down after the referendum, saying he had accomplished what he wanted to with the win. But since gaining its long-sought goal the party has been torn by infighting.

Earlier this month, UKIP European lawmaker Steven Woolfe was hospitalized in a neurological unit after an altercation with a party colleague inside the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.

Woolfe had been the favorite to become UKIP’s next leader, but announced last week he is quitting the party.

One divide in the party is between allies of Farage — a hearty populist who charms some voters and repels others — and those including Evans and UKIP’s sole member of Parliament, Douglas Carswell, who want the party to become more professional and centrist.

Farage’s first replacement, Diane James, quit after 18 days. Farage is serving as interim leader until a new chief is announced on Nov. 28.

Besides Evans and Nuttall, three other candidates have announced they are running. </s> The battle to become Ukip’s next leader has exploded into life, with the presumed frontrunners Paul Nuttall and Suzanne Evans both finally declaring they will stand, with the latter immediately denounced by the party’s outgoing figurehead, Nigel Farage.

In a sign of the splits still affecting Ukip, which is seeking someone to follow on from Diane James’s brief tenure in the job, it took just minutes after Evans said she would stand for Farage to declare he could not vote for her. 



Evans, a former Conservative councillor who helped draft Ukip’s 2015 election manifesto, appeared on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show to declare herself “the right person to lead Ukip into the challenges ahead” and to champion the cause of continued Brexit.

“With me at the helm, I’m absolutely confident that we will be able to reach out to voters on both the left and the right of politics,” Evans said, saying that “perhaps at times there’s been a bit too much testosterone in Ukip”.

Evans was asked about Raheem Kassam, a former aide to Farage who now edits the UK arm of the Donald-Trump-backing rightwing US news website Breitbart. Kassam on Saturday won the support of Ukip’s biggest donor, the insurance tycoon Arron Banks.

She described Kassam as on the “far right wing”, and said Ukip did not need a “fresh injection of toxicity”, bringing a rebuke from Farage, who was appearing on ITV’s Peston on Sunday show immediately afterwards.

“For her to talk about the party being toxic, for her to already declare one of the candidates who is running, Raheem Kassam, as being far-right, I don’t view this as being a very good start,” said Farage, who returned as the party’s interim leader when James stepped down after 18 days in the job.

“I have to say they are the sort of things she said to me – after the general election, she said to me I shouldn’t take any part at all in the referendum campaign, I was toxic, immigration shouldn’t be discussed with the British public. I think she has been in the wrong place ever since that,” he said.

Farage added: “I won’t be voting for her, not after that, no.”

Nuttall, Ukip’s deputy leader and one of its MEPs, used yet another show, BBC1’s Sunday Politics, to finally declare he would stand as leader, describing himself as the only candidate able to bring the party together.

“I have huge support out there across the country, not only among people at the top of the party, in Westminster and with the MEPs, but also among the grassroots,” Nuttall said. “I want to stand on a platform of being the unity candidate. Ukip needs to come together.”



In the wake of James’s decision to quit and an alleged scuffle with a fellow Ukip MEP, after which the former leadership frontrunner Steven Woolfe spend three days in hospital and then left the party, the party was “facing an existential crisis”, Nuttall warned.

He said: “Ukip at the moment is looking over the edge of a political cliff. It will either step off or it will step back. And I want to be the candidate that will tell us to come backwards.”

Nuttall added: “I believe that I am the man to bring the factions together, to create unity within the party, and to build and restructure, and get us ready for the coming challenges.”

The leadership campaign, which will see voting among party members open next month, is nonetheless likely to be a bruising one, given the already open warfare between Evans and Farage, and Banks’s decision to back Kassam over Nuttall.

Kassam, who has himself got something of a track record of falling out with fellow party members, called Evans’s description of him “sad”. He said: “This is a project fear tactic and Ukippers are sick of these smears.” </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Paul Nuttall, left, with outgoing leader Nigel Farage

Paul Nuttall has been elected leader of the UK Independence Party, replacing Nigel Farage.

The 39-year-old Member of the European Parliament, who served as UKIP's deputy leader for six years, won 62.6% of support among party members.

He promised to "put the great back into Britain" and force the government to "give us a real Brexit".

Mr Nuttall defeated former deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans and ex-soldier John Rees-Evans.

It was UKIP's second leadership election this year, previous winner Diane James having quit after 18 days in the role. Mr Farage acted as interim leader while the second leadership race took place.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Nuttall, a former history lecturer who played football for Tranmere Rovers as a boy, said: "The country needs a strong UKIP more than ever before. If UKIP is to be an electoral force, there will be an impetus on Theresa May and her government to give us a real Brexit."

He added: "I want to replace the Labour Party and make UKIP the patriotic voice of working people."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption New UKIP leader Paul Nuttall: I have not just talked the talk, I've walked the walk

Appearing on BBC Two's Daily Politics, Mr Nuttall said the party would be "speaking the language of ordinary working people... we're going to move into the areas the Labour Party has neglected", dismissing Labour leader leader Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell and Diane Abbott as part of "a North London Islington set".

He said: "We will be focusing on the issues that really matter to working-class people on doorsteps - immigration, crime, defence, foreign aid, ensuring that British people are put to the top of the queue in the job market."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption UKIP members applaud Paul Nuttall's acceptance speech

Ms Evans said Mr Nuttall had her "full support", saying she was glad he won such a decisive victory because it gave him a "huge mandate" to unite the party.

Mr Nuttall, who was born in Bootle, Merseyside and was UKIP deputy leader from 2010 until September this year, attracted 9,622 votes.

Ms Evans came second with 2,973 votes (19.3%) and Mr Rees-Evans third with 2,775 votes (18.1%). There were 32,757 ballot papers sent out, with 15,405 votes cast.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Diane Abbott tells The World at One Labour must address voters' fears about immigration

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Now on their third leader in as many months, UKIP are too divided, distracted and incompetent to offer any serious solutions for the people of Britain.

"After a leadership contest, which the winner himself has described as 'completely shambolic', we've seen brawls and squabbling - but nothing about the issues facing ordinary working people."

Labour MP Dan Jarvis said the party could not be "remotely complacent" about the threat posed by UKIP and had to listen to voter concerns about issues like immigration. He called for the party to appoint a frontbencher to deal specifically with the issue.

But shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said this was not necessary, telling BBC Radio 4's The World at One Mr Jarvis "clearly has not been talking to many people in Europe" if he thought changes could be made to EU free movement rules while being involved with the single market.

She added: "The fact is that immigrants themselves are not responsible for low wages."

Analysis - Norman Smith, BBC assistant political editor

This was a commanding, thumping win for Paul Nuttall. The scale of his victory matters. His pitch was that he was the only person able to bring the party together and heal its divisions and this gives him a mandate to do so.

His approach will be different from that of Nigel Farage, whose focus was on appealing to Tory voters. Mr Nuttall wants UKIP to become the authentic voice of the working class by talking about issues that Labour finds problematic.

It was no coincidence he spent much of his speech attacking Jeremy Corbyn and his allies. Beating Labour in the North of England will be a mountainous task - and it remains to be seen how this strategy will appeal to the party's libertarian wing - but it is not impossible, as the SNP has proved in Scotland.

But first he will have to deal with the huge tensions and personal animosities in the party. He will take comfort from Mr Farage's insistence he won't be a back-seat driver.

UKIP has been plagued by disputes between senior figures over the summer, with some leaving the party.

But Mr Nuttall, an MEP for North West England, said, under his leadership: "There will be one theme - unity - because only unity breeds success."

Mr Nuttall's first act as leader was to appoint London Assembly member Peter Whittle as his deputy. He also offered Mr Farage joint honorary presidency of the party.

Paul Oakden will stay on as party chairman and MEP Patrick O'Flynn - a close ally of leadership rival Suzanne Evans - will be his principal political adviser.

Douglas Carswell, UKIP's only Westminster MP, tweeted: "Thrilled and delighted by UKIP new leader Paul Nuttall - clear new strategic direction!"

But Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron predicted Mr Farage would be "back in the leadership after a few weeks of recharging his batteries stateside", adding: "UKIP do not speak for Britain and their brand of reactionary, divisive politics threatens the character and cohesion of our society."

Speaking ahead of Mr Nuttall's election, Mr Farage said he had a "certain sense of déjà vu" given the party had only had a leadership election in September but insisted he was stepping back and would not be a "back-seat driver".

He said he was "confident" about UKIP's future, saying it had shifted the "centre of political gravity" in UK politics and had been the inspiration for Eurosceptics across Europe but also Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign in the US.

Timeline: Previous UKIP leaders

Image copyright PA

Diane James (September-October 2016): UKIP's first female leader only lasted 18 days in the job, saying she lacked authority. The MEP later quit the party

Nigel Farage (2006-2009 and 2010-2016): The face of UKIP for more than a decade, he served two stints as leader, during which UKIP became a major force in British politics. He quit briefly in 2009 and again in 2015 only to change his mind.

Lord Pearson (2009-2010): The former Conservative peer was elected leader in late 2009 but the party underperformed at the 2010 election and he quit soon after, saying he was not "much good" at party politics.

Roger Knapman (2002-2006): A former Conservative MP, he joined UKIP after the 1997 election and became leader in 2002. Stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 2001 before becoming an MEP in 2004. Stood down in 2006.

Jeffrey Titford: (2000-2002): A popular figure who led UKIP into the 2001 election and served as an MEP for a decade.

Michael Holmes (1997-1999): Served as leader for two years and was elected to the European Parliament before quitting after an internal power struggle in 1999. Subsequently left the party.

Craig McKinlay (1997): Served as interim leader for a few months in 1997, latterly serving as deputy. Contested three general elections as a UKIP candidate before defecting to the Tories and winning the Thanet South seat in 2015 - beating Nigel Farage

Alan Sked (1993-1997): Formed the Anti-Federalist league, which later morphed into UKIP. The academic has since been critical of UKIP, describing it as "Frankenstein's monster". </s> Diane James has resigned as Ukip leader after just 18 days in the job, sources have said.

Two Ukip sources said James had resigned or was on the verge of doing so, with one saying she had filled in an official form handing over her control of the party with the words “under duress” in Latin.

James’s resignation could not immediately be verified with the Ukip press office.

A source close to a senior Ukip figure told the Guardian she had family reasons for wanting to leave and had been expected to quit at some point this week.

They added that there were discussions in Ukip about holding a snap two-week election to install a new leader quickly, with former deputy Paul Nuttall and disqualified former candidate Steven Woolfe two possible candidates.



Raheem Kassam, the former chief of staff to Farage who left after the election, has confirmed he will run for the leadership.

However, Nigel Farage told the Press Association he would not return as Ukip leader “for $10 million”. Asked if he’d take $20m, he replied: “No I’m not coming back, I’m retired”.

Suzanne Evans, the former deputy chair who clashed with Farage, could also try again after she missed out because she was suspended at the time of the last contest.

Another former candidate, Bill Etheridge, said he would not rule out standing again.

James was only elected at Ukip conference last month, after Nigel Farage stood down saying he had “done his bit” for Brexit.

An MEP for South East England since 2014, 56-year-old James was the Eurosceptic party’s first female leader and won the post by a wide margin after winning the backing of senior Ukip figures including Farage. 



But questions were raised about her commitment to the post after she declined to take part in hustings debates around the country with rival candidates. </s> Suzanne Evans and Paul Nuttall have both announced that they are standing to be leader of crisis-hit Ukip.

The two politicians both promised to hold the UK government’s feet to the fire on Brexit if they are elected to the helm of the party.

But while Mr Nuttall struck a conciliatory tone and pitched himself as the “unity” candidate, Ms Evans used her bid to launch a scathing attack on the current leadership.

She said Ukip needs to shed its “toxic” image and warned it risks becoming a Donald Trump-style party under the leadership of Nigel Farage and his allies. She accused her leadership rival, Raheem Kassam, of being a “far-right” candidate that will take Ukip in the wrong direction.

Ms Evans said: “Our future as a political party in Britain does not lie in that far-right wing. I don’t see a groundswell of opinion in this country for more far-right wing policies.

“I don’t see a groundswell of opinion for the right to bear arms in America.”

Ms Evans said she “absolutely” thought Mr Kassam – who has won the backing of party donor Arron Banks – will take Ukip in a far-right direction but “our members don’t want that”.

She said: “We’ve taken a lot of stick in Ukip because perhaps we have had a slightly more toxic image than we should have had. And our members, the ones that are doing the campaigning, have felt the brunt of that – being abused, being physically and verbally assaulted on the streets.

“They don’t want to have a fresh injection of toxicity that’s going to make it even more difficult for them, they want policies that help us win.”

Mr Farage is close to Mr Trump, appearing at a rally in the US for the controversial presidential candidate.

Ms Evans, who wrote her party’s 2015 manifesto but has since fallen out with Mr Farage, was unable to stand in the last leadership election after being suspended from the party for disloyalty.

But she tried to brush off claims that her unpopularity with the Ukip leader and his close ally Mr Banks would harm her chances of being elected to lead the party.

Mr Farage hit out at Ms Evans’ remarks, telling ITV’s Peston on Sunday: “For her to talk about the party being toxic, for her to already declare one of the candidates who is running, Raheem Kassam, as being far-right, I don’t view this as being a very good start.”

Steven Woolfe, the front-runner to replace her, also left the party in the wake of an altercation with another party member after which he ended up in hospital.

Mr Nuttall, Ukip North West MEP, said the party faced an “existential crisis” and could disappear unless it unified. </s> The UK Independence Party has been thrown into disarray after the shock resignation of leader Diane James after just 18 days in charge.

Ms James cited "personal and professional" reasons for her decision, saying that she had not been given sufficient authority to force through changes she wanted to make to the party.

It is also thought that her husband's ill-health and a recent incident in which she was "badly shaken up" after being verbally abused and spat at in a central London street may have played a role in persuading her to step down.

Confusion surrounded her position after she suggested in a statement that she had never formally taken up the role of leader after winning a landslide victory in the race to succeed Nigel Farage on September 16.

Party sources questioned her claim that the election amounted only to a "nomination" as leader which needed to be registered with the Electoral Commission to be formally confirmed.

Ukip's ruling National Executive Committee is expected to hold an emergency meeting within days to choose an interim leader and agree a timetable for the second leadership election within weeks.

Bookmakers installed North-West England MEP Steven Woolfe - who was barred from standing to replace Mr Farage after handing nomination papers in 17 minutes late - as hot favourite, followed by Suzanne Evans, who missed out on the chance to run because of a suspension which has now been lifted.

In her brief time as leader, Ms James had not appointed a deputy, so there is no one in place to act as a stand-in while a new election is arranged. Party officials were unable immediately to say who was leading the party.

Mr Farage poured cold water on speculation he might return to lead the party for a third time, after stints from 2006-09 and 2010-16, telling the Press Association: "Not for 10 million dollars."

And asked if he would take 20 million dollars, he said: "No, I'm not coming back, I'm retired."

Ukip chairman Paul Oakden said on Tuesday: "It is with regret that I have tonight received confirmation that Diane James has chosen to resign as party leader, citing personal and other reasons. I will now look to convene an emergency meeting of our NEC to confirm the process for electing Diane's replacement.

"Whilst the decision is unfortunate, it is one that Diane is entitled to make. We thank her for all her work as leader, and as a hard working MEP, a role she will continue with her customary vigour."

It is understood that Mr Oakden was not informed in advance of Ms James's intention to quit, and received formal confirmation only when she released a statement on Twitter.

Mr Oakden said Mr Farage could still be listed as the registered leader of the party if the Electoral Commission has not received Ms James's paperwork following her election win.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today show: "If they still have Nigel Farage down as the leader it's going to make it a very interesting day for me, I suspect."

He added: "He has the party at his core and he will do as he has always done - whatever is in the best interests of Ukip - and he will be ready to serve it, I have no doubt, in whatever way he can, in what, let's face it, are going to be a challenging couple of months."

He said it is "very unlikely" Mr Farage would return to lead the party again, but added: "I wouldn't say anything is impossible right now."

Mr Oakden said he had not spoken to Ms James about her decision, but insisted it was "unfair to characterise this as an issue between Diane and the NEC".

"Frankly, I'm not certain as to which party officers she's referring to - I can only speak for my part and the part of the NEC which is they were as constructive as they could be under the circumstances of a new leader being elected," he said.

In a statement announcing her decision, Ms James said: "It is with great regret that I announce that I will not be formalising my recent nomination to become the new leader of the party with the Electoral Commission.

"Having won the enthusiastic support of party members, I was nominated by them as the new leader at the recent Ukip Bournemouth conference.

"Since that time, I have been in discussion with party officers about the role. It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign.

"For personal and professional reasons, therefore, I will not take the electoral process further."

Ukip insiders questioned suggestions that Ms James had failed to receive support from officials.

The 56-year-old former Conservative councillor, who defected to Ukip in 2011, said she would stay on as an MEP for South-East England.

Elected to the European Parliament in 2014 after achieving national prominence as second-placed candidate in the 2014 Eastleigh by-election, Ms James was the party's first woman leader and won the post by a wide margin after winning the backing of senior Ukip figures including Mr Farage.

But questions were raised about her commitment to the post after she declined to take part in hustings debates around the country with rival candidates.

In September's election, Ms James took 8,451 out of the 17,970 votes cast, romping home ahead of Lisa Duffy - backed by many in the anti-Farage wing of the party - Bill Etheridge, Phillip Broughton and Elizabeth Jones.

In her acceptance speech, she promised to bring a new professionalism to the party, saying: "We are going to confound our critics, we are going to outwit our opponents, we are going to build on our election success that we have achieved to date and do more."

Ukip's only MP, Douglas Carswell, declined to comment on Ms James's resignation, saying in a tweet: "In the middle of supper. Not taking calls about UKIP stuff. It's shepherds pie, by the way." </s> Paul Nuttall has been elected by UK Independence Party (Ukip) members to replace Nigel Farage as leader, ending a turbulent period for the party after the referendum to leave the European Union.

Nuttall, the former deputy leader, was elected with an overwhelming 62.6 per cent of the 15,405 votes cast. His presumed nearest challenger, Suzanne Evans, won just 19.3 per cent of the votes, only 200 more than the rank outsider, John Rees-Evans, who won 18.1 per cent.

The MEP for north-west England takes over from Mr Farage, who had returned briefly as interim leader in October when his chosen replacement, Diane James, stepped down after just 18 days in the job , citing a lack of internal party support.

Speaking at a party event in London after being announced as leader, Mr Nuttall called for unity following the tumultuous few months for the party. He told members that if they did not wish to unite “your time in Ukip is coming to an end”.

Mr Nuttall used his acceptance speech to promise he would hold the Tories to account over Brexit. He vowed also to pursue Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, saying it had lost touch with working class voters. “I want to replace the Labour party and make Ukip the patriotic party of the UK.”

Mr Nuttall was preceded by Mr Farage, who gave a valedictory speech in which he hailed Ukip’s key role in delivering Brexit and, as he argued, paving the way for Donald Trump’s election as US president.

Mr Farage insisted he would not return again as leader, but would help his successor as needed. Other than that, Mr Farage said, he would combine being an MEP with a career in the media and a visit to the US “as a tourist”.

Mr Farage has spent little time on public party duties while back in the job, instead spending time in the US to support Mr Trump.

It will be Nuttall’s task to revitalise Ukip and seek ways to maintain the party’s relevance following an exodus of supporters and members to the Conservatives after the Brexit vote.

British prime minister and Conservative party leader Theresa May has embraced the cause of leaving the EU and has adopted key Ukip policies, such as lifting the ban on new grammar schools.

However, the new leader may seek to exploit Eurosceptic fears that May will not be able to deliver a clean break from the EU that reduces immigration and cuts ties with the single market.

At the same time, there may be an opportunity to woo pro-Brexit Labour supporters in the north of England who were unhappy with their party’s campaign to remain.

Mr Nuttall, a former university history lecturer from Bootle in Merseyside, has been seen as the senior Ukip figure most likely to be able to connect with this vote.

The MEP has strong rightwing views on crime, is open to a referendum on the reintroduction of the death penalty for child killers, and opposes abortion.

The party has been unsettled by having two leadership contests in rapid succession after Mr Farage announced his intention to stand down as leader in the wake of the EU referendum.

In the first contest, the favourite to succeed Mr Farage, Steven Woolfe, was disqualified from running because he submitted his application 17 minutes late, and Ms Evans was not allowed to stand because she was suspended from the party.

Ms James, an MEP, was elected leader but stepped down after signing her official forms with the words “under duress” in Latin. She later said she did not feel that she had the support of colleagues to carry out necessary reforms of the party’s national executive committee.

A fresh contest was called, but Mr Woolfe again had to withdraw following a fight with fellow MEP Mike Hookem in the European parliament in Strasbourg over reports he had been in talks about defecting to the Conservatives.

Woolfe ended up in hospital after collapsing and both men were investigated by the party, while the altercation was referred to French police by the European parliament president, Martin Schulz.

Mr Nuttall and Ms Evans entered the contest, along with Mr Farage’s former chief of staff, Raheem Kassam, who later withdrew saying the path to victory was too narrow, and Peter Whittle, a Ukip London assembly member, who also withdrew and gave his backing to Mr Nuttall.

John Rees-Evans, the least known of the candidates, was in the news last year for claiming in 2014 that his horse had been raped by a gay donkey.
Suzanne Evans, former UK Independence Party (UKIP) deputy chairman, and Paul Nuttall, President of the Initiative for Direct Democracy in Europe and Member of the European Parliament, each announce their candidacy for the UKIP leadership position, now held on interim basis by Nigel Farage. Other confirmed candidates are Bill Etheridge, Raheem Kassam, and Peter Whittle.