Ukip leadership result: Diane James named new leader of party

The former deputy co-chairman of the party won 47 per cent of the vote

Diane James has been elected leader of the UK Independence Party, replacing Nigel Farage in the post.

The former deputy co-chairman of the party won 47 per cent of the vote out of 17,970 party members who voted.

Ms James pledged to professionalise the party so that it could win elections, but promised to uphold its beliefs.

“I’m not Nigel [Farage] lite and I will never ever pretend to be so. What I’m doing is stepping into his leadership shoes but I will be doing everything to achieve the political success that he’s handing over to me and to you,” she said.

“I believe in Ukip’s values of liberty, common sense, democracy, and pragmatic approaches to the challenges this country faces.

“My language might be different – I’m not going to be retiring, so unlike Nigel, I might not always want to be as frank as I want to be … but I will uphold all the beliefs and values that this party stands for.”

The new leader threw down the gauntlet to Theresa May “as one grammar school girl to another” – saying she would not allow the Prime Minister to bring in “Brexit lite” or keep Britain a member of the EU as an “associate member”.

She referred to the PM as “Magpie May”, claiming the PM had stolen Ukip policies on grammar schools and in other areas.

“Magpie May – just remember when you try and bury Ukip, when you throw everything at us, when you try and undermine us, demoralise us, demotivate us, just remember where the best ideas that you steal – where they came from, and in all likelihood where they will come from again in the future,” she said.

She also repeatedly referred to In voters as “Remainiacs” – a negative epithet used by some Leave voters.

Ms James beat second placed Lisa Duffy, who won 25 per cent, and third placed Bill Etheridge. Elizabeth Jones won 6.7 per ent and Philip Broughton 8.6 per cent.

The result was announced at Ukip’s annual conference in Bournemouth, its first such gathering since the Brexit vote.

Former leader Nigel Farage gave a speech prior to the announcement of the leadership election result. He accused Conservative cabinet ministers of trying to keep Britain in the European Union.