Nigel Farage to stand for Ukip leadership again

Nigel Farage today said he would stand again for the leadership of the United Kingdom Independence party. The MEP made the announcement at Ukip's autumn conference, taking place in Torquay, Devon. A leadership contest has been triggered by Lord Pearson of Rannoch's decision last month to stand down as leader on the grounds that he believes he is "not much good at party politics". Explaining why he felt he should get the job, Farage said: "I'm far from perfect, but I do think I'm able, through the media, to deliver a good, simple, understandable message and I believe I can lead this party from the front as a campaigning organisation." Farage led Ukip until last year, when he stood down to allow him to concentrate on his attempt to oust John Bercow and be elected as the MP for Buckingham. His campaign was a failure – he came third, more than 14,000 votes behind Bercow, and suffered serious injuries when he was involved in a plane crash on polling day. Pearson, a former Conservative, was widely mocked during the general election campaign after the then-leader admitted in a television interview that he could not answer detailed questions about his election manifesto . Farage is favourite to replace Pearson, although other candidates are also standing. The results of the contest will be announced in November.