“Woe betide” those who seek to stand in the way of Brexit, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has warned.

In a Christmas message, Mr Nuttall said that in 2017, “MPs who seek to thwart Brexit will find their prospects for re-election greatly diminished”, and said his party would intensify the debate over the UK's overseas aid budget.

In his first Christmas message since taking over the Ukip leadership, he said: “This year the British people decided to change the course their country was set on. They chose a new path.

“By a narrow but decisive majority, they opted to take back control of key decision-making. They decided that European political integration and indeed the whole era of globalisation had gone too far, hollowing-out their democracy and leaving most of them worse off both financially and in terms of the cohesion of their communities.

“As the leader of Ukip, my top priority will be to make sure that in the New Year much faster progress is made towards implementing that big democratic decision. And woe betide any politician who seeks to stand in the way of a decision that was explicitly handed to the British people by both Houses of Parliament when they approved the EU Referendum Bill.”

Mr Nuttall said Brexit alone would not be sufficient for the “revival” of the UK to help those forgotten by the “political elite”.

“Whether one is talking about supporting our magnificent armed services, prioritising housing and welfare resources or ensuring that the NHS is not wide open to abuse by new arrivals who have never paid into the pot, it is time to reorder the priorities of our governing class,” he said.

“I expect 2017 to see a further intensification of the debate around our annual £12bn foreign aid bill at a time when social care for the elderly is in crisis and dependency on food banks is spreading through our most deprived communities. It will also see the British people expecting to finally see their oft-expressed wish for immigration to be brought back under control begin to take effect.”

He added: “In recent years we have been forced to confront the unpalatable truth that the British values that we came to take for granted – such as fair play, gender equality, freedom of expression, a commitment to democratic politics and equality before the law – are now far from universally acknowledged or applied in all our communities.