Diane James, who was leader of Ukip for just 18 days, has broken her silence about the biggest mystery of British politics this year: what is happening in this picture?
Photo: Getty
Your mole is still scarred from seeing this image – sweating in its burrow, the horror of Nigel Farage’s slippery wet pucker etched on its mind night after horrifying night.
In an interview on BBC 5 Live, James explained what happened:
“Nigel and I spoke just before I went on stage and he said, ‘Look this is what we’re going to do. The plan is I’m going to give you a greeting and there’s going to be a kiss on the cheek.’
“And we agreed which side the kiss was going to be. But anyway something happened . . . I went to him with the appointed cheek and he went the other way . . . That’s why there was a little bit of awkwardness.”
She also revealed why she stepped down from her role so soon, admitting that she couldn’t get rid of the party’s “old guard” and was frustrated:
“One can obviously continue to bang your head against a brick wall, going to bed at night hoping things might change and that you might be able to make a breakthrough.
“But when it became clear I couldn’t make that breakthrough, I felt it was the right decision for me and the credibility of the party that someone else assume the mantle.”
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