UKIP leader Farage announces surprise departure

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), speaks at a news conference in central London, Britain July 4, 2016. Farage said he will step down as leader of UKIP. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - The leader of the insurgent right-wing UK Independence Party said on Monday he was stepping down after realising his ambition to win a vote for Britain to leave the EU, the latest twist in a dramatic reshaping of the nation's politics.

The departure of brash former commodities trader Nigel Farage would sideline one of the most outspoken and effective anti-EU campaigners from the debate about how to sever Britain's ties with the other 27 countries in the bloc.

But it could also give his UKIP party - which under Britain's winner-takes-all election system won just one seat in Parliament last year despite capturing 12.6 percent of the vote - an opportunity to select a less-polarising figure and take on the mainstream in a radically altered political environment.

The June 23 'Brexit' vote to leave the EU has thrown the two main political parties into disarray, with the ruling Conservatives seeking a replacement for Prime Minister David Cameron and lawmakers from the main opposition Labour Party voting to withdraw confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," said Farage, who remains a UKIP member of the European Parliament.

"During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back,' and it begins right now."