Farage 'did not show his winning side', Ukip campaign chief says

Ukip's campaign chief Patrick O'Flynn has told ITV News he still believes Nigel Farage is the best man to lead the party, despite describing him as "snarling", "thin-skinned" and "aggressive" in a recent interview.

Speaking to Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship, O'Flynn - also the party's economic spokesman - said he blamed "a small group of advisers" around the Ukip leader for failing to gain more than one seat in last week's poll.

"Too often in the General Election campaign, Nigel did not present his winning side to the nation and the people I hold responsible for that are a small group of advisers who really had far too much sway on the election campaign," he said.

One key Farage adviser, Raheem Kassam no longer works for the party, according to its leadership. Another, Matthew Richardson, has reportedly tendered his resignation.

As well as attacking the advisers for "nasty briefings against loyal party staffers", O'Flynn added that Farage's decision to step down and subsequently return to the leadership - dubbed his "unresignation" - had been "unimpressive" and harmed the party's public image.

O'Flynn also warned that the party needed to use Farage's ability to appeal to "every class, every gender, every age profile" - and focus on the centre-ground rather than being dragged toward a "hard-right, Tea Party type" form of politics.

He also said it was important to place a greater focus on attracting support from "non-traditional" Ukip voters such as women and gay people - in spite of Farage's controversial comments about HIV patients.