Exclusive: Nigel Farage ‘never resigned’ from Ukip in ‘stitch up’

It has been alleged that Nigel Farage never formally resigned from Ukip as part of what party sources have told the Spectator was a stitch up to avoid a leadership contest. It is claimed that the Ukip leader never wrote a letter to the party’s chairman tendering his resignation. He told the media on Friday that he would write to the party resigning. When it met on Monday, it is said the National Executive Committee had still not received a letter. A source tells me that when someone asked where the letter was, they were told ‘it is being typed out as we speak’. The source says the letter never appeared. Under the party’s constitution, a party leader must ‘communicate his decision to resign in writing to the party chairman, who must then summon an emergency meeting of the NEC within 28 days’. The party’s rules also state that once the party leader has resigned, a leadership election shall be called.