Nigel Farage bows out: 'I have given UKIP all of me'

Nigel Farage has bowed out as UKIP leader, saying he has put "all of me" into the party over the past two decades and he wants "his life back".

He told his party's conference in Bournemouth that leading UKIP had been like a "big dipper" full of amazing highs but also plenty of infighting.

He said UKIP had a future fighting to ensure Brexit happened and "harvesting" votes from Labour in the north.

MEP Diane James was elected as Mr Farage's successor on Friday.

She defeated four other candidates to succeed Mr Farage, who has led the party in two stints for more than a decade and become a household name in British politics.

'No meddling'

Mr Farage said he would give Ms James his unwavering support and would not seek to "meddle or interfere" in how the party was run.

"My job will be if that leader wants any help and advice then, make no mistake about it, I am still four-square behind this party and its aims," he said.

Reflecting on his leadership of the party, he said he had put "absolutely all of me" into it.

"I literally couldn't have worked any harder, or couldn't have been more determined - it's been my life's work to get to this point. I think folks, I've done my bit."

UKIP, he said, had changed the face of the country by pushing for and then winning the referendum on the UK's EU membership. On Brexit, he warned that the party "had won the war but we must now win the peace".

Expressing concerns that Theresa May's language on immigration controls and other Brexit commitments was beginning to soften, he said the UK's exit from the EU would not be truly confirmed until the current passport was "thrown into the bin".

Mr Farage's speech comes amid uncertainty over the party's future direction and infighting, with his former head of media quitting to join the Conservatives.