Nigel Farage has resigned as leader of Ukip, saying he had fulfilled his political ambitions after successfully campaigning for the UK to vote for Brexit and that it was time for him to take a rest.

It is the third time he has stepped down as the party leader, but Farage dismissed the idea of coming back again in the future and claimed standing as an MP was no longer top of his to-do list.

Speaking at a press conference in Westminster on Monday, he said: "During the referendum I said I wanted my country back … now I want my life back."

Farage, 52, was originally leader from 2006 to 2009 and came back to the job after the 2010 election, overseeing the rise of Ukip from a fringe single-issue party to a major political force. He then stepped down after the 2015 election, only to "unresign" just days later, as he wanted to lead Ukip's campaign to leave the EU.