The new Ukip leader had revealed that she counts Vladimir Putin, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill as her political heroes.
Diane James, who was elected to replace Nigel Farage last week, was asked on BBC1’s Sunday Politics who “other than Vladimir Putin” were her political heroes.
After naming Thatcher and Churchill, James was asked to confirm that she also considered the Russian president among her top three, and she responded that she did.
The line of questioning followed comments she made in a 2015 radio interview when she was Ukip’s foreign affairs spokesperson.
During the LBC interview, she described Putin as a strong leader who stands up for Russia. “I admire him from the point of view that he’s standing up for his country. He is very nationalist,” she said.
Labour’s Harriet Harman, who was also in the radio studio, interjected: “You could say that about Idi Amin.”
“He is a very strong leader,” James continued. “He is putting Russia first, and he has issues with the way the EU encouraged a change of government in the Ukraine which he felt put at risk a Russian population in that country.”
Putin has attracted international criticism for Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its involvement in Ukraine, its support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and alleged cyber-attacks on the other governments and the crushing of opposition at home.
Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed appreciation of Putin during the US election campaign, calling him a better leader than Obama and citing his 82% approval rating as a sign of his success.
Asked during an NBC News interview whether Trump “wanted to be complimented by that former KGB officer”, the Republican candidate replied: “I think when he calls me brilliant, I’ll take the compliment. OK? If he says great things about me, I’m gonna say great things about him. I’ve already said, he is really very much of a leader.
“The man has very strong control over a country. Now it’s a different system and I don’t happen to like the system, but certainly in that system he’s been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.”
Other Republicans have been forced to distance themselves from Trump’s views on Putin. “Look, I have tremendous policy disagreements with President Obama, but Vladimir Putin is an authoritarian thug who is accountable to no one,” said Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida who ran against Trump in the Republican primaries.
“I don’t think what Vladimir Putin exhibits is leadership. I think what he exhibits is thuggery … and we should be clear-eyed about that,” he said.
