Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has hinted he will return to front line politics in two years' time if Brexit is "unfinished".

Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News on Saturday ahead of a General Election campaign meeting with UKIP supporters in Ramsgate - the conclusion of a two-day tour of Kent and Essex, where the party has previously found strong support.

Asked if he regretted not standing as a candidate in this election, Mr Farage said he did not.

But when quizzed on whether he might be tempted to run for UKIP leader once again, he said much would depend on Theresa May.

"Would I rule out ever coming back to the front line again? That depends on whether this Prime Minster delivers," Mr Farage said.


"If she does as well with Brexit as she did as Home Secretary with immigration, then ask me that question in two years' time and I may well say, 'Do you know what, the job's unfinished'."

On Friday, speaking in Clacton-on-Sea, Mr Farage had bemoaned the "reluctance" of UKIP to deal with concerns he had raised about the party's need for a rebrand following the EU referendum.

"I don't think there's any secret about the fact that in my last 18 months as leader I was very frustrated at the reluctance of the party to change," he said.

"I wanted to completely rebrand it and [make it] like the Five Star party in Italy.

"Make it an online political party that was cheap and easy to join and for people to engage.

"So I did try to put some quite big modernisations in place, they weren't ready for it, but I think whatever happens next Thursday they will be ready for it", Mr Farage added.

Image: Current UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has acknowledged the General Election will be 'difficult'

Last year, following the EU referendum, Mr Farage claimed his "political ambition has been achieved" and insisted he was keen to return to a normal life.

Since his departure, UKIP has been riven with internal disputes - including multiple leadership elections - and is now fielding 247 fewer candidates than it did at the 2015 General Election.

Current leader Paul Nuttall has openly acknowledged the approaching General Election will be "difficult" for the party, talking down his own chances of winning a seat in Boston and Skegness, and claiming his main goal is to "keep UKIP on the pitch".

Recent local elections saw the party lose all but one of the 140-odd candidates that were standing, while polling suggests at least half of the 3.8 million people who voted for UKIP in 2015 are now considering the Conservatives.

Although Mr Farage has been appearing regularly on TV and hosting a radio show on LBC, the last two days were his first active appearance on the UKIP campaign trail since the election was called.

He made stops in the constituencies of Clacton, Dagenham and Rainham, Thurrock and South Thanet - the latter the seat he contested in 2015 but lost to Conservative candidate Craig Mackinlay.

Friday's announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service that Mackinlay has been charged in relation to alleged misreporting of election expenses in 2015 has led UKIP to claim they have a chance of winning the seat this election.

Mackinlay, however, has made clear his candidature is unaffected and is confident the legal process will make clear he did nothing improper or illegal.

Tory leader Theresa May has also given Mackinlay her backing, saying: "The Conservative Party continues to believe that these allegations are unfounded."