This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Richard Braine has been elected as the leader of Ukip after taking more than half the vote, a party spokesman has said.

In a ballot of members, the chairman of the party’s west London branch received 53% of the vote – more than double that of his closest rival.

Freddy Vachha was second with 20%, followed by Ben Walker on 14% and former deputy leader Mike Hookem on 13%.

Ukip's defeat in EU elections cast doubts on party's future Read more

Braine was the favoured candidate of former leader Gerard Batten, who stood down after the party was wiped out in May’s European elections, haemorrhaging support to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party.

Following his victory, Braine said he wanted to establish Ukip as the “far-moderate voice of common sense” in Britain. “We have got a great future and we are coming back. I am very excited and looking forward to leadership of this party, bringing the members together and delivering better results,” he said.

Batten threw his support behind Braine after being barred from standing again by Ukip’s national executive committee. His leadership had become embroiled in controversy after taking on English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson as an adviser.