Ukip is set for civil war after the former leadership favourite Steven Woolfe was banned from standing because his application was 17 minutes late, making Diane James the new frontrunner to succeed Nigel Farage.

Woolfe conceded defeat within minutes of the announcement by Ukip’s vetting panel, criticising its choice but saying he wished the other candidates well.

Those on the ballot are now James, Ukip’s home affairs spokeswoman and a former parliamentary candidate, Bill Etheridge, an MEP, Elizabeth Jones, a deputy chairman of Ukip’s Lambeth branch, Jonathan Arnott, also an MEP, Lisa Duffy, a party organiser, and Phillip Broughton, a former candidate.



However, the decision to exclude Woolfe has set the stage for a battle over the future of the party by those loyal to the previous regime of Farage and others who want it to pursue a new direction.

Amid turmoil in the party, a source close to Farage said he was “open to coming back but not immediately”. The Ukip source claimed “Diane is probably best placed to steer the ship” but said she might come under attack from forces within the party.

Woolfe was backed by many of the Faragists, including Arron Banks, the major Ukip donor who bankrolled an influential anti-EU group during the referendum.

They have claimed the move against their candidate is the result of a coup led by those close to Douglas Carswell, the Ukip MP and critic of Farage, and Neil Hamilton, the former Tory Conservative MP. Suzanne Evans, the former deputy chair, who had clashed with Farage, is backing Duffy.

A backlash started immediately as three members of the national executive committee (NEC) resigned – Victoria Ayling, Mick McGough and Ray Finch. In a joint letter, they said members of the NEC had placed “personal ambitions, loyalties and jealousies at the heart of their decision-making” and displayed an “escalating megalomania”.

Speaking to the Guardian, Banks said many of Ukip’s members would be furious and predicted they could split away to follow a new direct democracy movement linked to him and possibly Farage, similar to Italy’s Five Star group run by the ex-comedian Beppe Grillo.



“It’s not a split, it’s a chasm,” he said. “You’ve got about 1% of the party who back Carswell and Hamilton and 99% detest them.

“With the membership it looks like insanity to exclude your number one candidate on the back of a technical error. With Nigel leaving, I think it has taken the lid off a pressure cooker. It’s just insanity. It’s a bit like the Tory party saying Theresa May couldn’t stand because her application was late. I’m actually quite impressed Ukip has managed to top the Labour party with this. It is astonishing.”

Suggesting his new movement could be called “The 52”, in reference to those who voted for Brexit, the Ukip donor said: “We have maybe a million followers on social media from the campaign, most of which includes Ukip people. I’m sure Nigel has retired but maybe he would look at this movement idea rather than a political party.”

Banks said he thought someone would submit a bid for an extraordinary general meeting to abolish the NEC. Last week, Farage criticised the ruling executive as being full of “total amateurs” and people of the “lowest grade” he had ever encountered.

Tim Aker, a Ukip MEP who came close to winning Thurrock for Ukip at last year’s general election, said he was appalled at Woolfe’s exclusion, adding: “This isn’t over.”



A Ukip spokesman said: “An NEC-led panel sat on Tuesday afternoon to determine the eligibility of those that submitted nomination papers to stand to be Ukip’s new party leader ... By a clear majority of NEC members Steven Woolfe MEP’s application was considered to be ineligible as a result of a late submission and as such he did not meet the eligibility criteria. His membership of the party was not in question.”

Woolfe said: “Having been a committed member of Ukip, standing for the party in multiple elections, acting as a spokesman at the highest level, I wanted to take this opportunity to stand for leader to inject my ideas, plans and passion into the party,” he said.

“Over the course of this leadership election, the NEC has proven it is not fit for purpose and it confirmed many members’ fears that it is neither effective nor professional in the way it governs the party.”

He said the NEC had been forced to accept that his membership had never lapsed and refused to acknowledge “serious issues with the application system”.

“Furthermore, highly confidential information about me held in party documents has been leaked to the press and the NEC has not sought to investigate this gross breach of privacy,” he said.