Newly appointed UKIP leader resigns after 18 days in office
Hours before addressing her fellow European parliamentarians in Strasbourg, head of the U.K. Independence Party Diana James announced her resignation on Tuesday evening after serving just 18 days in a surprising move as James said she has not yet formalized her nomination.
According to the Telegraph, the newly appointed EP head had never formally acceded predecessor Nigel Farage. The Financial Times reported that she resigned due to her husband's "deteriorating health."
James was appointed on Sept. 16 but says that she does not have the "sufficient authority" to implement the changes she had envisioned – including her promise to turn the fractious party into a political force capable of ensuring that the U.K.'s EU exit would not be watered down to "Brexit lite." James had difficult shoes to fill as she stepped in for populist Farage who had propelled UKIP out of the political fringes and into the role of influential power broker, appealing to voters concerns over large-scale immigration.
After playing a prominent role in convincing British voters to part ways with the EU in June's landmark referendum which resulted in the prompt resignation of his successor, Farage ruled out the possibility of a third bid for leadership of the U.K. Independence Party. He appeared with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi in August.
James was the seventh female leader to enter the U.K.'s political landscape and Europe's third far-right female leader, following in the footsteps of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Front National in France.
The U.K. has recently seen a rise in emerging far-right political parties and groups driven primarily by the growing concern over the burgeoning number of immigrants living in the country, resulting in increasing voter support for the anti-EU and anti-immigration policies of the UKIP in the past year.
According to the Telegraph, the newly appointed EP head had never formally acceded predecessor Nigel Farage. The Financial Times reported that she resigned due to her husband's "deteriorating health."
James was appointed on Sept. 16 but says that she does not have the "sufficient authority" to implement the changes she had envisioned – including her promise to turn the fractious party into a political force capable of ensuring that the U.K.'s EU exit would not be watered down to "Brexit lite." James had difficult shoes to fill as she stepped in for populist Farage who had propelled UKIP out of the political fringes and into the role of influential power broker, appealing to voters concerns over large-scale immigration.
After playing a prominent role in convincing British voters to part ways with the EU in June's landmark referendum which resulted in the prompt resignation of his successor, Farage ruled out the possibility of a third bid for leadership of the U.K. Independence Party. He appeared with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi in August.
James was the seventh female leader to enter the U.K.'s political landscape and Europe's third far-right female leader, following in the footsteps of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Front National in France.
The U.K. has recently seen a rise in emerging far-right political parties and groups driven primarily by the growing concern over the burgeoning number of immigrants living in the country, resulting in increasing voter support for the anti-EU and anti-immigration policies of the UKIP in the past year.