A former UK Independence party MEP has won her claim that the party discriminated against her because she was a lesbian.

Nikki Sinclaire had the whip removed by Ukip's leader, Nigel Farage, in January after she refused to sit with members of the far-right Italian party Lega Nord, claiming that some of its members were homophobic.

Ukip made no defence when she lodged a discrimination suit against it at an employment tribunal in Exeter and a default judgment was made in her favour. The party said today it had failed to lodge a response to the suit because of an administrative error and that an application for the judgment to be set aside had been filed.

The judgment, in which Farage and Godfrey Bloom MEP were both listed as respondents, found: "The claim of sexual orientation discrimination is well founded."

Sinclaire, who now sits as an independent MEP for West Midlands, said: "I'm very saddened by how this has all turned out. I have been trying to work for an out-of-court settlement but at no point did Ukip come to me and say: 'Right, shall we talk about this?'

"I feel betrayed by the party. When I joined Ukip in 1994 it certainly wasn't a career move. I did my bit in building Ukip up to second in a national election and they have repaid me with discrimination."

Sinclaire says Bloom, an MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, called her "a queer" as she passed him in the hallway of the European parliament in Strasbourg. Bloom denies the allegation, which is being investigated.

A hearing to decide whether to award compensation will take place on 29 December.