Douglas Carswell quits UKIP, says he will remain as independent MP

The UK Independence Party's only MP, Douglas Carwell, is quitting the party and will sit as an independent MP for his constituency of Clacton.

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He said in a statement: 'Like many of you, I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP.'

The long-time Eurosceptic said leaving the EU was an 'extraordinary achievement': 'By April 2019, Britain will no longer be a member of the EU. After 24 years, we have done it. Brexit is in good hands.'

He added: 'I will not be switching parties, nor crossing the floor to the Conservatives, so do not need to call a by election, as I did when switching from the Conservatives to UKIP. I will simply be the Member of Parliament for Clacton, sitting as an independent.

'I will leave UKIP amicably, cheerfully and in the knowledge that we won.'

He concluded: ' Cheer up! The days when small elites can try to arrange human social and economic affairs by grand design are coming to an end. Change is coming - Brexit is just the beginning.'

Though he was UKIP's only representative in Parliament, Carswell had been at odds with its former leader and most high-profile figure Nigel Farage, with reports that Carswell had helped frustrate Farage's chances of a knighthood. Farage wrote in the Daily Telegraph last month that Carswell was actively campaigning against UKIP and 'had to go'.