Kilroy-Silk resigns UKIP whip

Robert Kilroy-Silk has resigned the UK Independence Party whip in the European parliament following a long-running row over his leadership ambitions.

The East Midlands MEP was elected in June when he helped the party achieve its best ever result.

However his relationship with leader Roger Knapman quickly turned sour as he attempted to exert his influence on the party.

His bid to replace Knapman ultimately stalled when a poll showed the incumbent enjoyed around 70 per cent of branch chairmen's support.

Speaking on Wednesday Kilroy-Silk dismissed the poll as "farcical" and said all 25,000 party members should be asked properly in a "democratic and independently verifiable" way.

But his criticism of the party as "amateurish" and continuing leadership ambitions led his colleagues to call a meeting on his future.

The former Labour MP and television presenter pre-empted their decision by saying he would refuse to take their whip.

Following the meeting, the party said in a brief statement: "We hear from the press that Robert Kilroy-Silk has voluntarily withdrawn himself from the group but this has not been confirmed.

"If it is true, we very much regret it."

Decision

Kilroy-Silk said his decision to go would help some party members "dig themselves out of a hole they had got into".

"I have said I will not work with the parliamentary party in Strasbourg again but of course I will continue to be a member of UKIP and, most importantly, I will be going round the country trying to put the case for Britain to govern itself and not be governed by Brussels," he said.

Asked if his decision would prompt people to question his loyalty, he said: "My loyalty to the cause of getting Britain out of the European Union - that is the only and most important thing I am interested in.

"That is what I was voted to do and that is what I will continue to do."

He described Knapman as "an invisible leader" who would never make UKIP a "proper political party".

"I'm afraid it means we probably will not be able to make the inroads to the political debate I was hoping. We will remain a pressure group," he added.