Nigel Farage to remain Ukip leader after resignation rejected

Ukip's National Executive Committee has denied coming under pressure from Nigel Farage to reject his own resignation and said the body was "100% behind" the leader.

It comes after reports suggested Farage was in the room for deliberations about the party leadership.

Chairman Steve Crowther said: "There was not the slightest suggestion that the NEC was anything other than unanimous in its wish for Nigel to withdraw his resignation.

"He spent a considerable time making the case for his resignation, and the appointment of an interim leader, but there was no-one in the committee who did not want him to stay on.

"He left the room while it was further discussed. I took the views of members and they unanimously asked him to remain as leader. The NEC is 100% behind Nigel as we go forward in to the referendum campaign which is already under way."

Read more: Nigel Farage tells ITV News: My return does not prove Ukip is a one-man band

Ukip's Nigel Farage has revealed he felt he "owed it" to the party to stay on as leader when the national executive committee rejected his resignation.

In a first-person piece written forThe Telegraph, he said he felt there were "huge battles about to take place", adding that he had to put the country's interests first and foremost - as well as honour the wishes of the party's members.

Ukip will focus on electorial reform, he said, highlighting the four million votes they won - returning just one MP to Parliament - compared to the 56 SNP MPs elected on just 1.4 million votes between them.

And the major issue on the horizon, he added, was the promised referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.

Senior Ukip members have welcomed Nigel Farage's decision to stay on as party leader, after the national executive committee rejected his resignation.

Deputy chairman of the party, Suzanne Evans, had been tipped to stand in until a leadership contest in the autumn - but she took to Twitter to assure followers she was among those who helped persuade Mr Farage to stay.

It comes after a statement by party chairman Steve Crowther was released, explaining that the committee had rejected the resignation on the basis that Ukip members did not want Mr Farage to leave and labelling the election campaign a "great success".

Nigel Farage remains the leader of Ukip after his resignation was rejected by the party's national executive committee, Ukip has said in a statement.

Ukip chairman Steve Crowther said the committee (NEC) had produced "overwhelming evidence" that members of the party did not want him to go, saying they believed the general election campaign had been "a great success".

He said Mr Farage had been "persuaded" by the committee to withdraw his resignation.

Mr Farage had announced before the election that he would resign if he was not voted into his chosen constituency of South Thanet - and he duly did so on Friday afternoon.

However, he had kept the option of returning open by hinting he might compete in the leadership race in the autumn.