Britain's anti-EU UKIP party loses its only lawmaker

United Kingdom Independence Party MP Douglas Carswell File picture: Neil Hall/Reuters

United Kingdom Independence Party MP Douglas Carswell File picture: Neil Hall/Reuters

Published Mar 25, 2017

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London - Britain's UKIP party, widely

credited as having been a major factor behind the country's

decision to leave the European Union, lost its only lawmaker on

Saturday when Douglas Carswell announced he was leaving the

party.

Carswell, 46, defected to UKIP from the Conservative party

led by then Prime Minister David Cameron in August 2014 and went

on to win a by-election in the eastern seaside town of Clacton

that year.

"Like many of you, I switched to UKIP because I desperately

wanted us to leave the EU," he said in a statement. "Now we can

be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I

will be leaving UKIP.

"I will leave UKIP amicably, cheerfully and in the knowledge

that we won."

He said he would remain as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Clacton, as an independent, until the next general election in

2020.

Carswell's announcement comes just four days before

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggers the EU

divorce process, following last June's referendum vote to quit

the bloc that Britain joined 44 years ago.

The party's best-known politician Nigel Farage held a

long-running feud with Carswell over party policies and he had

previously accused Carswell of trying to split the party.

The defection will raise questions within UKIP as the party

hopes to capitalise on its successful campaign to leave the EU.

After months of turmoil following Farage's decision to step

down as leader last June, it had finally elected its former

chairman Paul Nuttall as leader in November and was aiming to

increase its representation in the 650-seat parliament.

Nuttall failed however in his bid in February to win a

by-election in Stoke, central England, which was one of the most

solidly pro-Brexit areas on England in the referendum.

There was no immediate comment from UKIP on Carswell's

departure. 

Reuters

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