UKIP is on the hunt for its seventh leader in just three years after the latest leader, Richard Braine, announced he was resigning after furious rows split the already shattered party.
Mr Braine attracted headlines after he said he was irritated by people calling him Dick Braine.
The former UKIP leader launched his time as party leader by hitting back at George Osborne after the former Chancellor mocked his name.
Mr Osborne tweeted after he won the UKIP leadership race: “The new leader of Ukip is called Mr Dick Braine – really.”
Under Nigel Farage’s leadership in 2015, UKIP won almost 4m votes - but has seen its support crumble with the rise of the Brexit Party and decisions by the previous leader Gerard Batten, which dragged the party to the far-right.
In his resignation letter, Mr Braine said that "from the beginning" his attempts to reform the party had been met with "pre-emptive opposition".
He said he had seen attempts to block appointments to his team by hostile people in the party including UKIP chair, Kirstan Herriot.
Mr Braine's resignation letter reads: "I have been prevented from building a successful leadership team by blocked appointments. This has stopped me fulfilling that promise.
“Last week the Chairman admitted that she is “supposed” to report to the Leader, but requested that this responsibility be removed.
"Several NEC members and non-members agreed to this. Even if this request were legitimate, UKIP’s Constitution states clearly that the Leader appoints the Chairman, not the NEC.
“I did not join UKIP in order to waste time on internal conflict, but I have found myself powerless to prevent a purge of good members from the Party. I had believed that UKIP was a highly democratic party, but I have not been able to stop political interference in UKIP ballots. I can not therefore stand publicly for UKIP with a clear conscience."
