UKIP's only MP Douglas Carswell has announced he will be leaving the party but will stay on as independent.
In a statement posted on his website, Mr Carswell said he would be quitting the party, with the Prime Minister due to trigger the formal Article 50 divorce process from the EU on Wednesday.
He said "Like many of you, I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP.
"I will not be switching parties, nor crossing the floor to the Conservatives, so do not need to call a by-election, as I did when switching from the Conservatives to UKIP.
"I will simply be the Member of Parliament for Clacton, sitting as an independent. I will leave UKIP amicably, cheerfully and in the knowledge that we won."
Despite UKIP not having many seats in Parliament he said that "in a way, we are the most successful political party in Britain ever".
Carsell's resignation comes after a public spat between him and the party's largest financial backer, Arron Banks, who's a close ally of Nigel Farage
Farage recently responded to the news saying that Carsewell never belonged in the party.
Carswell has jumped before he was pushed. He was never UKIP and sought to undermine us. He should have gone some time ago.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) March 25, 2017
Additional reporting IRN.
