The rise and fall of UKIP... with a few hiccups along the way
The UK Independence Party (Ukip) was founded in 1993 by Alan Sked and other members of the cross-party Anti-Federalist League. This is how the party's history has unfolded:
May 1, 1997:*Ukip candidates stand in the general election but win no seats. Mr Sked resigns after the election, saying he is concerned about 'racist' elements.
June 10, 1999:*Under the leadership of millionaire businessman Michael Holmes, Ukip wins three seats in the European Parliament. A then little-known Nigel Farage becomes an MEP.
June 10-13, 2004:*Now under the leadership of Roger Knapman, Ukip comes third in European elections with 12 MEPs being elected. Chat-show host and former Labour MP Robert Kilroy-Silk joins the party during this campaign.
July 23, 2004:*Ukip comes*third in the Hartlepool by-election. Mr Kilroy-Silk hints at ambitions to challenge Knapman.
January 25, 2005:*Mr Kilroy-Silk ends a tumultuous period by quitting the party, labelling it a 'joke'. He establishes is own party, called Veritas - Latin for truth. Mr Knapman says he will 'break open the champagne'.
May 5, 2005:*Ukip fields 495 candidates in the general election and gains 2.3 per cent of the vote. It did not win any seats.
April 4, 2006:*Mr Farage demands an apology from David Cameron after he describes Ukip members as 'fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly'. Mr Cameron does not apologise.
September 12, 2006:*Mr Farage is elected leader with 45 per cent of the vote.
June 4, 2009:*Ukip comes second in the European elections with 16.5 per cent of the vote and 13 MEPs.
November 26, 2009:*Lord Pearson of Rannoch becomes leader, replacing Mr Farage, who stands down to challenge speaker John Bercow for his parliamentary seat.
May 6, 2010:*UKIP fields 572 candidates in the general election.*
Mr Farage is treated for broken ribs and minor injuries after a plane he is travelling in comes down at Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield near Brackley, Northamptonshire.*He says he is 'lucky to be alive'.*
The party increases its share of the poll by 0.9 per cent but takes no seats.
In Buckingham, Mr Farage polls 17 per cent but comes third behind Mr Bercow and John Stevens, the Buckinghamshire Campaign For Democracy candidate.
August 17, 2010:*Lord Pearson resigns as leader.
Clacton MP Douglas Carswell defected to Ukip in August 2014
Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless defected from the Tories to Ukip
November 5, 2010:*Mr Farage completes his second coming as he is re-elected leader with 60.5 per cent of the vote.
January 13, 2011:*Paul Nuttall finishes fourth in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election.
March 3, 2011:*Jane Collins comes second in Barnsley Central by-election. Mr Farage welcomes this result, saying: 'The Lib Dems are no longer the voice of opposition in British politics - we are.'
February 28, 2013:*In the Eastleigh by-election following the resignation of Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne, Ukip candidate Diane James poles 27.8 per cent and 11,571 votes - the highest ever for any Ukip parliamentary candidate. The Lib Dems retained the seat.
May 2, 2013: Ukip*makes significant gains in local council elections, including in Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Kent.
May 22, 2014:*Ukip gains 27.49 per cent of the vote at European elections - the highest for any British party in that election. It gains 11 MEPs, taking its total to 24.
August 28, 2014:*Clacton's Conservative MP Douglas Carswell, with a majority of more than 12,000, forces a by-election by defecting to UKIP and resigning from parliament, saying the Tories could not promise 'serious change' in Europe.
His defection sparks speculation that MPs across the political spectrum could join UKIP.
September 27, 2014:*Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless forces a by-election by announcing his defection to Ukip.
In April 2015,*Mr Farage sparked controversy when he used a TV debate to attack people with HIV coming to Britain
October 9, 2014:*As David Cameron celebrates his 48th birthday, voters go to the polls in Clacton where the party could gain its first MP. UKIP pushes hard in the Lancashire constituency of Heywood and Middleton, which is also holding a by-election following the death of Labour MP Jim Dobbin.*
November 20, 2014:*Mr Reckless wins Rochester and Strood by-election for Ukip with a majority of almost 3,000. Mr Farage predicts party will win 'dozens' of seats at the general election
December 8, 2014:*General Secretary Roger Bird suspended over allegations of impropriety in with candidate selection
January 24, 2015:*MEP Amjad Bashir defects from Ukip to join the Conservatives, claiming the party has become 'a vanity project for Nigel Farage'
March 17, 2015:*Mr Farage publishes autobiography Purple Revolution, in which ge vowed to resign if he did not win in Thanet South: 'It is frankly just not credible for me to continue to lead the party without a Westminster seat. Was I supposed to brief Ukip policy from the Westminster Arms? No - if I fail to win South Thanet, it is curtains for me. I will have to step down.'
April 2, 2015:*Mr Farage uses TV debate to attack people with HIV coming to Britain
Nigel Farage quit as Ukip leader after failing in his bid to become an MP in South Thanet, pictured - as his party called for the first past the post system to be scrapped
May 7, 2015:*Voters go to the polls in the general election. Mr Farage fails in his bid to become an MP. Mark Reckless loses his seat to the Tories. Mr Carswell is the only Ukip MP left.
May 8, 2015:*Mr Farage boasts that he is 'a man of my word' and announces he will resign as leader: 'I have resigned, I have gone.' He names Suzanne Evans as interim leader
May 11, 2015:*Ukip announces that the party's NEC has rejected his resignation: 'Mr Farage withdrew his resignation and will remain leader.' The 'unresignation' is widely mocked.
May 12, 2015:*Row erupts when Mr Carswell refuses to accept £3.3million over five years in public money from Parliament. Mr Farage insists Ukip should accept the cash, to hire 15 staff.
May 13, 2015:*Mr Carswell wins his battle, as Mr Farage agrees not to take all of the Short money.
May 14, 2015:*Ukip MEP Patrick O'Flynn accuses his leader of turning the party into a 'personality cult'. Donor Stuart Wheeler and ex-MEP Godfrey Bloom call for Mr Farage to resign. Chief of staff Raheem Kassam and party secretary Matt Richardson, blamed by some for 'shock and awful' lurch to the right, leave their posts.
