Farage tells UKIP critics to back him or to go

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has challenged his critics to decide whether they want to stay in the party as a bitter internal row continues.

Mr Farage said he had "massive" support from MEPs, donors and party members to continue in the role.

He suggested one person, whom he did not name, was "agitating for change".

"He hasn't had the courage to break cover but he must make his mind up," he said. "Is his future with UKIP or not?"

The party has been beset by wrangling since Mr Farage agreed to stay on as leader after failing to get elected in Thanet South - despite pledging before the election that he would quit the post if he failed to get elected to Parliament.

The party got nearly four million votes at the general election, but returned only one MP - former Conservative Douglas Carswell in the Clacton constituency.

'Destabilise'

Two senior advisers to Mr Farage quit on Thursday, while election campaign chief and MEP Patrick O'Flynn said the UKIP leader had become "snarling and aggressive" during the election campaign - although he has said he should remain in the job.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Farage attempted to flush out his critics in the party, claiming that they were only "two or three people" and that he had the overwhelming support of the party's 47,000 members and leading donors.

Analysis by political correspondent Robin Brant

Nigel Farage has almost certainly seen off the (anonymous) calls for a leadership election, so he is staying on. But it's come at a big price.

He's been forced to jettison his two closest advisors and side with Douglas Carswell in rejecting £650,000 in public money the party is due. It's clear some senior figures think he - and the party - needs a break.

MEP Steven Woolfe told the BBC Mr Farage should take the summer off, and his deputy Paul Nuttall should step up. Intriguingly, it wasn't Mr Nuttall whom Mr Farage anointed as his favoured successor when he initially stood down last week.

He also sided with critics who attacked the "aggressive" approach of the leader during the election, conceding that "the tone slipped".

"Every single one of our major donors came out in support of me yesterday. The national executive is united. The leader of our group in the House of Lords, the leader of our MEPs, the Scottish committee, the Welsh committee. I have never had support like it."

He added: "It is difficult to get more support than I have got. Even Patrick O'Flynn, who made some personal comments which were not particularly pleasant, said he 100% supports me as leader."

The party's ruling committee rejected Mr Farage's resignation on Tuesday, saying that despite winning only one seat in the election its campaign had been a success.

'Disaffected'

Addressing the turmoil of recent days, Mr Farage said suggestions that UKIP was in a state of civil war were "ludicrous" and only a handful of people were unhappy about his leadership.

"Two or three people need to make their mind up. Are their futures with UKIP or not? This is really about a Conservative attempt and a Conservative lobby to try and destabilise UKIP and to use one or two people within who are disaffected".

Douglas Carswell is UKIP's sole representative in Parliament

He added: "There is one senior figure in UKIP briefing every single day and he has now moved on to say there must be a leadership election. And that individual must make his mind up whether his future is with UKIP or not."

A number of senior figures in the party have come out in support of Mr Farage, with deputy leader Paul Nuttall saying "four million voters are fully behind" him, while immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe urged the party to draw a line under the "squabbling" of recent days, stressing that "of course we want him to stay".

Party chairman Steve Crowther said there was "100% support" for Mr Farage and he was the most "expert and qualified" man to lead the party in the run-up to a referendum on the UK's future in the EU.

Asked on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show why Mr Carswell had not publicly backed Mr Farage in recent days, Mr Crowther said it was "something he would have to explain" and he expected the two men to speak to each other shortly.

Mr Carswell was involved in a dispute with other UKIP figures about whether the party should accept £650,000 in so-called Short money due to opposition parties in the Commons - which UKIP has decided against doing.