Diane James

Diane Martine James (born 20 November 1959) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2019. She was briefly leader-elect of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from September 2016 to October 2016, but resigned before formalising her leadership. At the time of her election to the European Parliament, James was one of three UKIP MEPs for South East England, before joining the Brexit Party in 2019.

James was born in Bedford in 1959, and was a councillor on Waverley Borough Council from 2007 until 2015, when she lost the seat to the Conservative Party. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014. Following the resignation of Nigel Farage, she was elected leader of UKIP in September 2016 as his successor. She resigned from the leadership of the party on 4 October 2016, 18 days after being elected. On 21 November 2016, James announced that she was leaving UKIP and would henceforth sit as an Independent. The length of her tenure was met with significant public and press ridicule. Provided by Wikipedia