Nigel Farage: I did not bare all in late-night swim

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives “cannot be trusted on Brexit”, Diane James, the newly elected leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party, said on Friday.

Farage – who has a fair claim to have influenced the course of British politics more than any other non-MP following his campaign’s victory in the June Brexit referendum – is now thought likely to look for a media career, although he remains an MEP until Britain leaves the EU. She resisted calls for an immediate meeting with him, saying it should wait a few days.

The announcement came at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, south United Kingdom, the party’s first major conference since the European Union referendum result.

With a Labour party divided over its future direction, James expressed her ambition to make Ukip the second party in the country.

The party gained notoriety in the last four years as anti-Europe sentiment crept in to the UK’s political atmosphere, and the culmination was the Leave vote which triumphed in the historic referendum.

He said he was “four-square” behind UKIP but cautioned the party must be “healthy and strong” to hold the Government to account over Brexit.

She has promised to have a “laser focus” on the Brexit negotiations, holding the Government to account for delivering on the Leave vote in June’s European Union referendum.

But in another speech highlighting internal tensions in the party, outgoing deputy leader Paul Nuttall said that “Ukip has not been a happy camp for over a year”, and spoke of “a cancer in the heart of the party”. I could not have worked any harder or been any more determined.

Mr Farron will say: “So, yes, Ukip have a new leader”.

How long Diane James will have as a honeymoon period is, however, open to question.

Mr Broughton attracted 1,545 votes, and was also behind Lisa Duffy (4,591 votes) and Bill Etheridge (2,052 votes).

Although Mr Farage did not officially endorse any candidate during the contest, it was clear that he was keen for Ms James to take over.

“There is a huge opportunity for the party, but it also requites the party to unite”.

Ms James said it was now the job of the party to make sure they were “race ready” for the 2020 General Election and appealed for the party to come together to deliver a credible manifesto, attractive to voters.

He said: “Diane is entitled as a new leader who had no input into who speaks at this conference to have the opportunity to put her stamp on that conference”.

The government’s new slant under May has “restricted political space for the populist right”, he added.

He said he would quit after failing to win his seat at the 2015 general election, but stayed on after the party rejected his resignation.

The leadership campaign was thrown into turmoil as soon as it began, with the previous favourite candidate, Steven Woolfe, disqualified for submitting his candidacy 17 minutes after the deadline, citing computer problems.

Today she said she hoped Mr Farage, who will continue to lead the UKIP group in Brussels, will still give European President Jean-Claude Juncker “grief”.