Diane James elected UKIP leader after departure of Farage

The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has a new leader as former deputy leader Diana James takes the reins from the controversial Nigel Farage, who stepped down following Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June.

James had been the favourite to fill Farage's shoes, and won the election with 8,451 votes, ahead of Lisa Duffy on 4,591.

The party gained notoriety in the last four years as anti-Europe sentiment crept in to the UK's political atmosphere, and the culmination was the Leave vote which triumphed in the historic referendum.

At a noisy UKIP conference, James proclaimed "Yes to a 100% European Union exit. Can I be any clearer? Yes to a sovereign independent UK. Yes to a UK free to make trade deals with whoever and whenever we want and yes to an immigration policy that allows entry regardless of origin to those with the skills and the expertise and the social values that this country wants."

The new leader is expected to steer the party in a different direction than the charismatic Farage, and is generally seen as a safe pair of hands.

She challenged new UK prime minister Theresa May - referred to as "Magpie May" - to invoke Article 50 and accused her of stealing her party's ideas for government policy.

"From one grammar school girl to another, stop the faff, stop the fudge and the farce. Get on with it. Invoke article 50 and give Ukip the best Christmas present," James said.