Paul Nuttall has resigned as the leader of the UK Independence Party, following his party's poor performance in the British general election.

His resignation is effective immediately, and comes only months after he was elected as leader of the right-wing party in November 2016.

In an election that led to a hung parliament, UKIP failed to win a single seat - with their share of the vote dropping by almost 11%.

The party's previous MP - Douglas Carswell - left the party to become an independent earlier this year, and announced he would not stand in this year's election. 

In a statement, Paul Nuttall - one of UKIP's 20 MEPs - said: "In an election that was framed by the Prime Minister as being all about Brexit, voters have focused everything on who would be the next Prime Minister and that has undoubtedly led to a return of two party politics – temporarily.

"UKIP’s time will come again, of that I’m certain. But it will come under a new Leader, who hopefully now has the clear water ahead of them to make the party we all love a success."

In comments to reporters, he also said the party was "a victim of its own success".

Mr Nuttall - who secured less than 8% of the vote in his Boston & Skegness constituency in yesterday's vote - was the third leader of UKIP in less than a year.

The former leader Nigel Farage resigned in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, and his successor Diane James lasted less than a month in the role.

Mr Farage took over again for a short period until Mr Nuttall was appointed.

Mr Farage - who has hinted at a potential return to frontline politics - said the election results have put the Brexit process "in jeopardy".

Article 50 had been triggered and we were on our way. May has put all this in jeopardy. Even David Davis is now making Brexit concessions.

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 9, 2017