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The MEP, who dramatically quit just 18 days into her spell in charge of Ukip last year, admitted "there's been discussions" with the Conservatives about signing up to Theresa May's party. Ms James' tenure was so short she never actually signed official papers to formally take the reins of Ukip in the wake of her leadership election victory last October. She now sits as an independent in the European Parliament having cut her ties with Ukip altogether a matter of weeks after sensationally standing down as the party's leader. But despite the "overtures" from the Tories, Ms James insisted in an interview with Express.co.uk there's "nothing on the table yet" that would see her join another political party.

PA Ex-Ukip leader Diane James revealed she's received 'overtures' from the Tories

Ms James is among a series of high-profile individuals to quit Ukip in the wake of last year's EU referendum result. Her fellow MEP Steven Woolfe now also sits as an independent in the European Parliament, while the party's sole MP Douglas Carswell quit last month. Major donor Arron Banks has also left the party and put in place plans to launch his own political movement. Today, former MP Mark Reckless quit Ukip and will sit with the Conservative Group in the Welsh Assembly. With all of the UK's MEPs due to lose their jobs in 2019 on Britain's exit from the EU, Ms James revealed she is "absolutely focussed" on standing as an MP at the next general election, set for May 2020. Outlining what she believes are her three routes to Westminster, Ms James said: "If I felt that either the Conservative Party, being an independent, or Arron Banks’ new movement would best allow me to realise what I think needs to happen in terms of politics… and reflect on the position that the UK finds itself in post-Brexit, then those three options at the moment all have equal billing." She added: "I’m open to all three options. What I’m not open to is standing for the Communist Party, the far-right, Labour or Liberal Democrats. "Those for me are just completely off the table."

Should I ever need to consider it I know I’ve got somewhere I can push against an open door Diane James

Ms James also ruled out a return to Ukip under current leader Paul Nuttall, who has vowed to take on Labour in its traditional heartlands and hinted at changes to the Ukip brand. She said: "Paul by that stage [2020] will have taken Ukip so far to the Left and he may well have a new version of Ukip. "That’s immediately going to create a distance between me in terms of my views and the way that he’s going to be taking that new party." Mr Woolfe quit Ukip following his infamous 'altercation' with fellow MEP Mike Hookem in the European Parliament amid a dispute over revelations he discussed defecting to the Conservatives.

GETTY Ms James now sits as an independent MEP in the European Parliament

Asked whether she had been tempted to sign up to the Tories since leaving Ukip, Ms James said: "No. I’ll readily admit there’s been discussions and there’s been overtures and I mean, why not? There is nothing on the table yet that would make me want to join another political party." The approaches have come from within the Tory contingent in Brussels and Strasbourg, not from Conservative Party headquarters in London, Ms James revealed. She added: "They nuanced, that would be the nice way of putting it, nuanced that there’s a home here if you would like it. "The response would be very much ‘well, that’s very nice to know, thank you’. "Should I ever need to consider it I know I’ve got somewhere I can push against an open door, shall we say." With the European Parliament due to play a critical role in authorising any Brexit deal between the UK and the remaining 27 member states, Ms James urged all of Britain's MEPs to fight a common cause between them. She said: "I’m a great believer that the UK contingent in Europe, given the result of the referendum, we ought to be pulling together. "There should not be this faction of the Labour Party, as I perceive it, fighting with the EU to keep the UK in. "I’m quite happy to sit and talk to anybody who wants to have a sensible, grown-up discussion."

GETTY Nigel Farage heavily criticised Ms James' decision to quit Ukip

With Brexit due to be completed by the end of March 2019, Ms James suggested "the whole spectrum" of UK politics might be "radically" altered by the 2020 general election. Ms James revealed she is in contact on a "reasonably weekly" basis with Mr Banks and is "following what he's doing" but would "like to see some more detail" of the mutli-millionaire's project, which has been tentatively branded 'The Patriotic Alliance'. She said: "I think his heart’s in the right place. He obviously made a huge contribution to the referendum campaign and he’s keen to see that’s actually delivered. "I can understand why he’s disillusioned with Ukip, he does seem to have fallen out with them in a big, big way over so many different areas now that potentially I think the situation is irretrievable between the two parties. "But he shown clearly that his heart’s in the right place, that his focus is for a very prosperous and successful UK outside the EU. "I think he’s to be applauded on that basis."

GETTY Former Ukip donor Arron Banks has put in place plans to launch his own political movement

Asked whether she had buried the hatchet with her predecessor as leader Nigel Farage, who accused her of "irrational selfishness" when she quit the party in November last year, she said: "I never criticised him and I never will criticise him for the comments he made. I can understand he was very hurt. "I’ve made the point in the past, Ukip - in a metaphorical sense - is his baby. He’s a bit like a parent, he doesn’t want to see any damage to it, he wants to build a wall around it and protect it and he only wants the best for it. "I think with the benefit of hindsight, he now certainly understands a lot more why I made the decision I did because we have been able to have that grown-up discussion. "He’s as frustrated as I am with the blockages, the push back, the constant position of ‘we don’t want to change’." Ms James previously stood for Parliament as Ukip's candidate in the Eastleigh by-election in 2013 - sparked by the resignation of disgraced minister Chris Huhne - where she came second behind the Liberal Democrats.

Nigel Farage in pictures Mon, April 3, 2017 Nigel Farage is a British politician who has been the leader of the UK Independence Party since October 2016. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 48 Nigel Farage in pictures