South West MEP Julia Reid, the former UKIP health spokesperson, has quit the party in protest over the direction it is taking and called the appointment of Tommy Robinson "the final straw."

In her resignation letter Dr Reid claims that UKIP has now lost its way and instead of focussing on the what she describes as the betrayal of Brexit, she says the current leader has chosen to focus on another issue.

Dr Reid MEP's resignation follows that of former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, former leader Paul Nuttall, as well as David Coburn, its leader in Scotland and Nathan Gill MEP, who was UKIP's only MEP in Wales.

In her letter of resignation Dr Reid, who has an office in Chippenham, said:

"It is with great sadness that I am today resigning my membership of the United Kingdom Independence Party of which I have been a member since joining in November 1993, shortly after its inception, twenty-five years ago.

"As the name conveys, the entire raison d’etre of the party since its formation has been to campaign for an independent United Kingdom, free from the diktats of the European Union. With this aim in mind, and a lot of hard work, the party was able to bring about the EU Referendum and on 23rd June 2016, 17.4 million people voted to Leave the European Union.

"Having been Eurosceptic since 1966, and campaigned for a no vote in the 1975 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), I was ecstatic when the result came through in the early hours of Friday 24th June.

"Sadly, as the months have passed this joyful scenario has faded as it would appear that the biggest exercise in democracy, where more people voted than at any time in our history, is about to be betrayed.

"Unfortunately, however, at a time when UKIP should be campaigning even harder for the Brexit that we have worked so hard to achieve, our party seems to have lost its way. Instead of focussing on the betrayal of Brexit, UKIP’s leader has spoken out on another issue.

"For months I have been uncomfortable with the party’s current direction and the appointment of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) is unhappily the final straw."