Diane James, who spent 18 days in charge of Ukip earlier this year, has described the job as like banging her head against a brick wall.
The MEP, who formally refused to take up the post after winning a leadership election in September, said she was unable to break up the party’s old guard.
Speaking to BBC 5 Live, James said: “One can obviously continue to bang your head against a brick wall, going to bed at night hoping things might change and that you might be able to make a breakthrough.
“But when it became clear I couldn’t make that breakthrough, I felt it was the right decision for me and the credibility of the party that someone else assume the mantle.”
Asked if she found it hard to get rid of the party’s “old guard”, she responded: “Yes, that’s a very good description.”
She also criticised media reports that wrongly suggested she had stepped down because of her husband’s ill health – a reason briefed by senior Ukip figures.
“My husband was not very ill, and neither was he at death’s door, and it was quite frankly irresponsible journalism.
“By concocting a story and deciding that family illness could be a factor, that story then effectively grew, developed legs and went viral, and it caused an immense amount of upset and anxiety and unhappiness.”
James was elected after Nigel Farage stepped down in the wake of the EU referendum, saying he had done his bit. But she refused to take up the role, signing her official forms with the Latin phrase vi coactus – indicating she was under duress.
A new leadership contest was triggered, with the former Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall taking the job.
James also explained the widely shared awkward photograph taken with Farage after her leadership victory.
“Nigel and I spoke just before I went on stage and he said: ‘Look, this is what we’re going to do. The plan is I’m going to give you a greeting and there’s going to be a kiss on the cheek.’
“And we agreed which side the kiss was going to be. But anyway something happened … I went to him with the appointed cheek and he went the other way … That’s why there was a little bit of awkwardness.”
Relations between James and Farage have not recovered since he called her decision to step down “an act of irrational selfishness”. She has now quit the party entirely and sits as an independent MEP.
“It was not a nice series of words to hear from someone I admire and respect … but I understand he was upset,” she said.
