FORMER North West Hampshire general election candidate Diane James has won the contest to replace Nigel Farage as UKIP's party leader.
The UKIP home affairs spokesperson, who was hotly tipped to win the role, was officially announced as leader at the party's conference in Bournemouth on Friday.
The South East MEP beat off competition from Bill Etheridge, Lisa Duffy, Liz Jones and Phillip Broughton to replace Mr Farage, who announced he would step down following the UK's vote to leave the European Union in June.
Ms James is a well known face in the Hampshire political scene, coming within 1,000 votes of beating Mike Thornton and stealing a Liberal Democrat stronghold seat at the Eastleigh by-election in 2013.
She was confirmed as UKIP's North West Hampshire candidate in the 2015 General Election, but stepped down two months into her campaign citing 'personal reasons'.
In her first speech as UKIP leader, Ms James said she was "not Nigel-lite" but would be "stepping into his leadership shoes" to try to continue his political success.
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