Nigel Farage quits as UKIP leader to concentrate on gaining a seat in the next election.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has announced the departure of its leader Nigel Farage – who is leaving to concentrate on challenging Speaker of the House John Bercow for his Buckingham seat in the next election. 

Mr Farage has led the party for the past three years, and said he will continue to lead the party’s MEPs but that leading the party as well has been too much for him. His role as both leader of the Parliamentary group as well as UKIP means that primarily he is based in Brussels and Strasbourg.

UKIP came second in the recent European Elections, beating Labour, and has a total of 13 seats in the EU parliament.

Yesterday the Party announced that Mr Farage was intending to challenge House of Commons Speaker John Bercow for his Buckingham seat at the next General Election.

Mr Farage told The Daily Telegraph: “This man [Bercow] represents all that is wrong with British politics today.”

Mr Farage’s UKIP colleagues have been praising him for his work in raising the profile of the party. Paul Nuttall, UKIP Party Chairman, said: “Nigel’s a great success in that he turned UKIP from a single issue group on the fringe into a fully-fledged political party.

“He’s been a fantastic leader and his achievement in taking UKIP from its beginnings to second place in the European elections is truly remarkable.”

UKIP Deputy Leader David Campbell Bannerman echoed Mr Nuttall’s sentiments: “Nigel has proven over the last few years that he’s a brilliant orator, the best in the business, and a popular media figure.”

According to a statement on the UKIP website the contest for a new leader is expected to start next week.