UKIP interim leader Nigel Farage has criticised the party’s Suzanne Evans after she claimed the party was “toxic” and branded one of the leadership candidate’s “far right”.
With no sign of an end to the infighting, Ms Evans and party colleague Paul Nuttall both announced they were standing to be leader of their crisis-hit party.
But while Mr Nuttall struck a conciliatory tone and pitched himself as the “unity” candidate, Ms Evans used her bid to launch a scathing attack on the current leadership.
Read more: Theresa May warned imposing Brexit settlement on Scotland could break up Britain
And she made clear Ukip had to shed its “toxic” image and warned it risked becoming a Donald Trump-style party under the leadership of Nigel Farage and his allies.
She accused her leadership rival Raheem Kassam of being a “far-right” candidate that would take Ukip in the wrong direction.
“Our future as a political party in Britain does not lie in that far-right wing. I don’t see a groundswell of opinion in this country for more far-right wing policies,” Ms Evans told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme.
“I don’t see a groundswell of opinion for the right to bear arms in America.”
Ms Evans said she “absolutely” thought Mr Kassam – who has won the backing of party donor Arron Banks – would take Ukip in a far-right direction but “our members don’t want that”.
Read more: Theresa May warned imposing Brexit settlement on Scotland could break up Britain
The former deputy chairman of the party added: “We’ve taken a lot of stick in Ukip because perhaps we have had a slightly more toxic image than we should have had.
Mr Farage, who pledged not to support her candidacy, responded: “For her to talk about the party being toxic, for her to already declare one of the candidates who is running, Raheem Kassam, as being far-right, I don’t view this as being a very good start.”
Mr Farage is close to Mr Trump, appearing at a rally in the US for the controversial presidential candidate.
Read more: Theresa May warned imposing Brexit settlement on Scotland could break up Britain
Ms Evans, who wrote her party’s 2015 manifesto but has since fallen out with the acting leader, was unable to stand in the last leadership election after being suspended from the party for disloyalty. She tried to brush off claims her unpopularity with the Ukip leader and his ally Mr Banks would harm her leadership chances.
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