Former Ukip leader Diane James quits the party just over a month after stepping down
Former Ukip leader Diane James has reportedly quit the party just over a month after she stepped down from the helm of the party.
James ran Ukip for just 18 days prior to resigning, with former leader Nigel Farage returning on an interim basis.
And she has now followed her resignation by quitting the party altogether.
In a statement, James said that her relationship with the party had grown "increasingly difficult", adding that she felt "now is the time to move on".
https://twitter.com/DianeJamesMEP/status/800735542690267137
Farage branded James decision as an "act of irrational selfishness".
"This pattern of behaviour says that is she unfit to continue as an MEP. She should do the honourable thing and resign," he said.
James is the second prominent Ukip MEP to quit, after one-time leadership contender Steven Woolfe also departed, claiming that the party was "ungovernable" without Farage.
The party, which received 3.8m votes in the 2015 General Election, is currently choosing a new leader, with candidates including former party deputy leader Paul Nuttall, former deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans and former soldier John Rees-Evans.
Farage quit the party after last summer's European election, stating "now I want my life back." Since then, he has served as a prominent campaigner for Donald Trump, building ties to the Republican to the extent that Farage was the first non-US politician to visit the president-elect after his shock victory.