Diane James

Diane Martine James (born 20 November 1959) is a British politician and an independent Member of the European Parliament. James was briefly leader-elect of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) but resigned before formalising her leadership, and used to be one of three UKIP Members of the European Parliament for South East England.
James was born in Bedford and was a councillor on Waverley Borough Council from 2007 to May 2015, when she lost the seat to the Conservatives. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014. Following the resignation of Nigel Farage, she was elected leader of UKIP in September 2016 as his successor. She resigned from the leadership of the party on 4 October 2016, 18 days after being elected. On 21 November 2016, James announced she was leaving UKIP and would henceforth be sitting as an independent.

James was educated at Rochester Grammar School, Kent and Thames Valley University, Slough.

James was elected to Waverley Borough Council as an Independent representing Ewhurst ward after falling out with local Conservatives in 2007. She announced she was joining UKIP shortly after the 2011 election but refused to stand down and fight a by-election. She lost her seat in 2015 after standing as the UKIP candidate in the election. Her fellow UKIP councillors all lost their seats at the 2015 election.

James came second in the 2013 Eastleigh by-election with 27.8% of the vote, an increase of 24.2% on the 2010 figure. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014. James was the party's Home Affairs spokesperson, represented UKIP on the BBC's Question Time, and took part in debates at the Cambridge Union Society.

James was selected by North West Hampshire UKIP to be its candidate for MP in December 2014, having been given a 1.2% chance of winning. However, a few hours after making a speech at the UKIP Spring Conference in Margate, Kent, she stepped down from the Westminster candidacy "for personal reasons".

In 2016 she said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of her political heroes.

UKIP leadership

Following the resignation of UKIP leader Nigel Farage, James stood in the election to succeed him in August 2016. She emerged as one of the frontrunners. On 16 September, she was announced as the new leader having received 8,451 votes (46.2% of votes cast); she was the first woman to hold the post.

On 4 October 2016, James confirmed that she would not be pursuing the leadership of the party despite winning the leadership election. James issued a statement saying she had decided not to become party leader as: "It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign." Upon signing the document that notified the Electoral Commission of her election as UKIP leader, James added the Latin term vi coactus (under duress) after her signature. The commission was unable to process the document due to her use of the words.

She resigned her party membership on 21 November 2016, stating "it was time to move on" and that her relationship with UKIP had become "increasingly difficult", although she will continue to sit in the European parliament as an independent.