I have learnt that I am not much good at party politics, which I do not enjoy
Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Lord Pearson of Rannoch is to stand down as leader of the UK Independence Party, claiming he does not enjoy party politics.
The news was broken this morning by Ukip chairman Paul Nuttall, who used his twitter feed to make the announcement.
In a statement Lord Pearson said: "I took over as leader of Ukip last year to see the party through the general election, and said I would then consider my position.
"We increased our vote by 50 per cent, and have many exciting plans for the future.
"But I have learnt that I am not much good at party politics, which I do not enjoy.
"I am also 68, and need to give more time to my wider interests.
He added: "So it is right that I should stand down on September 2, early in the Parliament, to give a younger leader time to be established before the next election, which may come sooner than we think.
"There is no shortage of talent in Ukip, and the new leader will have my full support.
Lord Pearson took over as leader in 2009 from the party's most high profile personality, MEP Nigel Farage.
Farage quit as leader to concentrate on an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to unseat Commons Speaker John Bercow from his Westminster constituency of Buckingham at the general election.
The controversial figure was involved in a plane crash on polling day, when a banner being carried by his light aircraft got caught up in the planes propellers.
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme this morning Farage did not rule out making a return as party leader.
"I hadn't really considered this until a few hours ago when Malcolm (Lord Pearson) told me of his decision," he said.
"I'm not going to say I'm absolutely not going to do the job again but I've got to decide in the wake of that accident whether I'm strong enough to take the job on.
He added: "The other problem is I'm still leading a group in the European Parliament in Brussels, can I do that and lead a party in the UK?"
Lord Pearson, who defected to the party from the Conservatives in 2007, is widely seen to have had a poor election campaign. The low point being an infamous interview with Jon Sopel on the BBC's Campaign Show in which he appeared unfamiliar with his own party's manifesto pledges.
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