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| UKIP leader Diane James 'to stand down' | UKIP leader Diane James 'to stand down' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| UKIP leader Diane James is expected to stand down 18 days after she was elected to the post, senior party sources have said. | UKIP leader Diane James is expected to stand down 18 days after she was elected to the post, senior party sources have said. |
| UKIP has not formally confirmed reports of the resignation but Ms James has told the Times newspaper she "would not be formalising my recent nomination". | |
| Ms James succeeded Nigel Farage on 16 September after he quit in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU. | |
| The MEP for South East England won with 8,451 votes, ahead of Lisa Duffy. | |
| A former businesswoman and healthcare professional, Ms James saw off four other contenders: Ms Duffy - who received 4,591 votes - Bill Etheridge, Liz Jones and Phillip Broughton. | |
| But the race to replace Mr Farage exposed bitter divisions within the party. | |
| 'Not sufficient authority' | |
| One-time frontrunner Steven Woolfe was barred from standing after submitting his nomination papers too late, while Suzanne Evans was unable to take part as she was suspended. | |
| Ms James's decision is thought to be partly due to family commitments. | |
| In a statement to the Times, she said since her election "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 election process further." | |
| Reports of Ms James's resignation prompted speculation that Mr Farage - UKIP leader from 2006-2009 and 2010-2016 - might return to lead the party for a third time. | |
| But he told the Press Association: "I'm not coming back, I'm retired". | |
| The face of Euroscepticism in the UK for nearly two decades, he helped turn UKIP from a fringe party into the third biggest in UK politics - in terms of votes at the 2015 general election. | |
| Announcing his decision to stand down, he said his "political ambition has been achieved". |