His loss now means that pressure will increase on the Ukip leader to reconsider his position.

Early results saw the party's vote down by around 13 per cent on 2015, when under Mr Farage it secured a 12.6 per cent share of the national vote but just a single MP.

Mr Nuttall began the night mocking the prime minister.

"If the exit poll is true then Theresa May has put Brexit in jeopardy," he said. "I said at the start this election was wrong. Hubris."

Mr Nuttall's predecessor Nigel Farage also questioned Mrs May's position, saying: "Whatever the true result, the Conservative party needs a leader that believes in Brexit.

"Yet one of the most striking facts of the June 8 election was how the exit polls and early results suggested the demise of Mr Nuttall's own party.