She had the support of the UKIP-led Leave.
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Her election spells trouble for the anti-Farage modernists including former deputy chairwoman Suzanne Evans, UKIP’s only MP Douglas Carswell and fellow MEP Patrick O’Flynn.
James was announced as the anti-EU party’s new leader at a national conference in Bournemouth on Friday which Business Insider attended.
‘I frankly don’t think I could do any more.
My goodness you’ve handed over a mantle, but it’s one that I’m deeply honoured to take on from Nigel.
She continued: “The absolute focus of our party promises is to make sure we are ready for the next general election”.
Emphasising UKIP’s role in holding the government to account over Brexit negotiations, she pledged to oppose associate membership or “Brexit-lite” and “unrestricted, uncontrolled” immigration into the EU.
Presenter Jonathan Dimbleby also appeared taken aback by the revelation and said: “Can we just record for posterity that you, Arron Banks, and Nigel Farage last night went skinny dipping off Bournemouth pier – is that what you said?”
Ukip’s new leader and the party’s only MP put on a public show of unity as they took to the stage in the finals hours of a conference dominated by bitter infighting.
She won 8,451 votes out of 17,917, while Lisa Duffy came second with 4,591.
The 56-year-old previously caused controversy when she defected to UKIP soon after being voted in as an independent Waverley Borough Councillor representing Ewhurst in 2011.
And she said the party needs to change and become more professionalised to become “a winning political machine”.
“We’re going to confound our critics, we’re going to outwit our opponents, we’re going to build on our the electoral success we’ve achieved to date and do more and I’ve said we are the opposition party in waiting so watch out”.
There have also been high-profile defections to the Tories – including the party’s former head of media, Alexandra Phillips.
When Britain voted to leave the European Union, it was a triumph for the U.K. Independence Party. “I think it’s extraordinary that the speaker of the Ukip group in the Assembly should be replaced as the speaker by someone who’s just resigned in the assembly”.
“The harvest of votes we could potentially get from the Labour Party hasn’t even started yet”.
“I can tell you he’s not coming back”, Mr Banks said in response to a question about whether Mr Farage would ever return as leader.
Mrs James said she wanted to unite the party.
“We will fight to make sure the British people have their say before the United Kingdom has to accept a deal that nobody gave consent to”, he said.
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After declaring to a rapturous crowd of Ukip supporters that we got our country back Farage said: Four years ago, I predicted well cause an natural disaster in British politics.
