Losing leaders UKIP-style

Plenty of rude things have been said about the UK Independence Party since its creation in 1993.

But some of the strongest words have come from its own supporters, not least following the farcical events of their election campaign in the West Country.

In April, party leader Malcolm Pearson tried to persuade several UKIP candidates to stand aside to help other parties' Eurosceptic candidates. Firmly rejected, he then used local newspapers to ask voters in places like Taunton and Wells NOT to back UKIP.

"Local members were livid," one Somerset candidate told me; activists prepared a no-confidence motion for the UKIP Conference (Torquay 3-4 Sept).

With the pressure mounting, Malcolm Pearson quit.

That softened the anger felt in the South West, but he took no chances - opting not to attend his own conference.

So yet again the party lurches into a leadership contest. It looks likely to be entertaining.

"The man's a lunatic... a charlatan," was how one senior figure described one high-profile candidate.

The new leader will be UKIP's seventh in 17 years (plus a couple of acting leaders). I wonder how long he (or she) will last?