Story highlights
UKIP names Paul Nuttall its new party leader
Farage had been acting as interim leader after his successor stepped down
Paul Nuttall, a 39-year-old Member of the European Parliament, will replace Nigel Farage as leader of the UK Independence Party.
A frontrunner to take the party’s reigns, having served as deputy leader for the last six years, Nuttall was elected with 62.6% of support from party members, brushing aside his main rival, Suzanne Evans, the party’s former deputy chairwoman who came in second with 19.3% of votes.
A total of 32,757 ballot papers were sent to UKIP members, with 15,405 votes cast in the contest, the party said.
UKIP will now look to its new leader to help stabilize the party after a turbulent few months that saw several senior members quit and multiple leadership elections held.
Nuttall, the MEP for north-west England, will replace Nigel Farage, who returned to the helm as interim party leader in early October when his successor, Diane James, stepped aside after just 18 days in the job.
Farage, who quit following the UK referendum to leave the European Union, has overseen few party duties in the last month, instead spending time in the US, supporting President-elect Donald Trump.
As Nuttall took the podium following his electoral victory, he called on his party to unite, “because only unity breeds success.”
“The country needs a strong UKIP more now than ever before,” said Nuttall in his acceptance speech. “For if UKIP ceases to be an electoral force then there will be no impetus on Theresa May and her government to give us real Brexit.”
He added: “And what we will end up with is some mealy-mouthed backsliding version which doesn’t allow us to control our own borders, which doesn’t allow us to sign our own trade deals, which doesn’t allow us to make all of our laws.”
A party divided
Shortly after Nuttall was named, a Conservative party spokesman responded criticizing UKIP’s fractured landscape in a statement which read: “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.
“It’s the Conservative Party which held a referendum and is now delivering on the people’s verdict. We will deliver Brexit and more control on immigration - while UKIP continue to squabble on the sidelines.”
